


Mio Famiglia, Mio Scudo

by RZWrites



Series: Paravento Famiglia [2]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Multi, OC, Original Character(s), Original Story - Freeform, POV Original Character, Varia Arc (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Varia Quality (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:40:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 64,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24897811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RZWrites/pseuds/RZWrites
Summary: Naoki Oda has just moved to Namimori, however, upon his arrival he notices that the town isn't the stress free environment he was promised, and he is soon tangled in the world of crime himself as more and more suppressed knowledge comes up from the archives of his own family line.The flame induced clock is ticking and Naoki is to make the decision between life of a criminal and death as his own broken flames are rushing to break the teen apart.On top of this, his four years younger doublegänger is running around the city forcing him to constantly explain that he isn't related to the madman, the boy's mother makes a fine teacher though....
Series: Paravento Famiglia [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797679
Kudos: 7





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> This piece of fiction is also the story of Katekyo Hitman Reborn from another perspective, this time around the setting is the same.  
> Originally posted to Wattpad.
> 
> The name of the story is purposely equipped with a spelling error, for a very specific reason, which I hope you, the reader will be able to catch on.

The wind was moaning when he arrived to the small town of Namimori. Dressed in his orange button up shirt and black trousers, Naoki Oda, the sole inheritor of the Oda Residence, walked forward. He ignored the odd looks he received as a result of his looks, to many he looked like a preteen who was probably running from home instead if a seventeen year old male who was on his second year of a high school.  
His luggage followed after him, hitting the rocks that had managed to snuck into the airport where they now were irritating the busy customers. On his way outside, to the bright sun shine, the raven passed a petite boy wearing a suit and reading the newspaper. Naoki stopped to look at the boy, his amber eyes widened as he stared in confusion. Surely this couldn't be an actual infant, right? It was preposterous to even think that a mere child would be able to read the complex kanjis that usually made sure that only the teen aged 16 could read it.

Without a warning, the infant looked up at the Osakan boy, who in turn froze to his spot, unable to look away from those serious black beads.  
"Who are you?" the infant asked in surprisingly good Japanese, maybe he wasn't an infant after all? It took Naoki a second to process the question before he stuttered the answer to the boy with curly sideburns. The child hopped down from the bench and marched to him, carrying a tiny suitcase as he so did.  
"You will accompany me to the hotel", he said firmly, to which Naoki could only shake his head in denial. "I have a house I need to go to, I apparently own it now", he said eyes filled with grief. He hadn't gone to the said house before this day, sure he had a map to take him there but that didn't prepare him to anything. Sure, it was nice to have his own house, but he already missed his parents. But at the same time, he understood why he was sent there.

You see, up until about one year ago, Naoki had been dating a girl called Yukimura Kairi. The said girl had turned out to be the daughter of the local yakuza group's leader, who hadn't taken it too kindly to have his daughter meddle with the son of a local police officer. So he'd become a target and he'd seen it to be for the best to break up with the girl, who had accepted it gracefully and moved forward. Soon afterwards, he'd find himself in great pain that sometimes rendered him even unconscious, the doctors had been baffled about this. It was written down as a chronic illness, something that he had either inherited from his parents or a mutation in his system, the cause was still unknown. His mother, the chief inspector of Osaka had silently given him a key to his inheritance, inheritance that had been supposed to hand over to him much later, and gently told her son to move to Namimori as it was far enough from the Yukimura group and had an excellent hospital.

The infant kept staring at Naoki as if he'd just seen a ghost, or worse; a close relative who name he had purposely forgotten. As he fully took in the boy's appearance.

Naoki Oda was not a tall man, if anything he was on the shorter side especially when compared to the Europeans who tended to be anything between 160 cm and 190 cm (Nordics are the worst), the teen himself falling to the basic height 175 centimeters, sure he was average for an Asian man, but to the infant who was definitely not Japanese, he was short. Especially since the last 30 centimeters seemed to be coming from his hair. Which was essentially cheating. His complexion was pale for someone who was supposedly in the age where a child would be spending more time outdoors as far from home as possible, if anything he looked like he'd just recently gotten out of a hospital. His eyes were half lidded which made his eye colour to shift in the light, blocking most of it, but as far as anyone knew, they were brown.  
His black hair looked messy and nest like, one could say that it defied gravity and it'd be technically correct.

The two boys stood there as if they were stone just scanning each other up and down before turning away from each other, silently agreeing to have never seen each other.

As the older one (or at least physically older looking one) started to walk away, the younger threw one final glance to their direction, his mouth forming a thin line. He'd seen what shouldn't have been there, the thing that didn't belong. And his stomach had felt like tying itself into a knot just to make sure that he wouldn't vomit out of disgust. It was just too much for someone like him. Even now that he couldn't see the other one, his head felt heavy his brain dizzy as his instincts screamed at him to hurry and save the boy. But he couldn't. Wasn't allowed to. This was one of those time he was mentally cursing the day a pacifier of inky dread was wrapped around his neck, feeding off of his power like the leech it was.  
The tiny Hitman turned to look at his newly acquired ride, one Yamamoto Tsuyoshi, knowing that his own face was still bit on the green side from seeing that thing. His tiny cursed hand tugged the sleeve of the sushi chef immediately being addressed. Eyes dead serious, he looked at one of the few men he'd partnered up with in the past and spoke.

Naoki himself was at loss of what to say. He'd finally arrived to his destination, sweaty and tired from walking as he had estimated the distance between his new home and the airport wrong. His faint tenor leaving out a tiny squeak as he fully took in what he saw.

"This... This isn't a house", he panted as he felt how sweat trickled down to his chin, black hair was the worst in a hot day like this, "This is a thrice damned mansion! What on earth was grandfather thinking!?"


	2. II

It appeared that Naoki was.... Lost  
Utterly lost. In his new school. This was the problem with transferring mid semester, it never worked. The male groaned as he had to come in terms with this thought. The morning hadn't been the best for him either, a lot of people had looked at him as if they'd seen him before, whispering behind his back when they thought that he didn't listen. They apparently thought that he was someone called Sawada? Though he'd also heard the name Dame-Tsuna being tossed about much to Naoki's dismay and anger. Whoever this Tsuna kid was, he was having it rough. The whole city seemed to know his name and was throwing dirt on it.  
"Oh! Aren't you a cute one~", a girly speaking voice cut the boy from his dark thoughts regarding the mystery kid. Turning around in fast speed, the raven came face to face with a girl who had a short silvery hair and big blue eyes. The girl smiled at him disarmingly, and he could've sworn that she had flowers sneakily growing and blossoming behind her. After a whole of speechless staring, the girl continued to talk. "Are you new? I don't think that I have seen you before?" Naoki swallowed as he gave a confirmation to the question. This made the girl clasp her hands together in a delighted manner and asking his name.

"I am Oda Naoki", the teen mumbled resulting in a squeal from the girl who soon explained that she was sent there to pick up the new student. The girl made a tiny pirouette and gestured him to follow after, and follow he did.

The duo went past several classrooms, most of them being in middle of the teaching. They soon enough arrived to the classroom 2-B, where the class was taking a break from their musical torture. The students are buzzing amongst themselves when the door opens.

The girl enters first, greeted by her classmates, especially the boys, with enthusiasm. She surely was a popular one eh? Perhaps even the idol of her class.

Upon Naoki's entrance, the room grows silent as a grave. He's now the center of their attention and he immediately hates it. Those wide eyes that measure him up and down. Those judgemental stares as they look down on him. Naoki sighs as he bows.  
"Me name is Oda Naoki, 's very nice to meet ya", he states, allowing the thick accent dye his speech, he'd noticed that people in Namimori turned slightly friendlier whenever he spoke in the Osakan way. And sure enough, the class resumes into the talk. Few of the boys, from the looks of it part of various sports teams, beelined to him, their eyes measuring him still. "So what kind of sport are you into? Oda?"  
Naoki looked down to his feet, feeling the rush of blood dye his ear pink.  
"'m not allowed to do sports", he mumbled eyes cascading sadly, "I have a medical condition that prevents it.. Doctors aren't yet sure what's causing it or what it is, but... I'm prohibited from doing sports".   
The looks of pity he received made him want to scream at them, he wanted to punch the nearest guy in the gut. Because he didn't need their pity. He didn't need to see those eyes, didn't want to see them.  
The eyes that were afraid of him. The eyes that belonged to an arrogant person, to someone who lived in ignorance. He kept staring down, wanting to tell them to stop staring and let him be, when a kind voice asked him a question.  
"Where are you from Oda?" the same girl who'd showed him the way into the class asked, genuinely interested in him. Naoki blinked. "Osaka, though I only use the Osaka-ben to diffuse situations in here", he said, easily slipping to Tokyo-ben much to the confusement of his new classmates. The girl suddenly jolted as if she'd remembered something. "I am Haruka Tenoh! Do call me Haruka!" she greeted him with enthusiasm resulting in murmurs to go about.

Naoki nodded shyly, unsure of what the future would bring with it.

At the end of the school day, the teen felt exhausted to the limit. He'd been walked through the campus, he had to explain over and over again that he wasn't related to some kid and turn down each and every sport team TWICE. As of this moment, he was sitting with Haruka in some empty classroom, surrounded by a group of girls as they talked about cake.

Yes. Naoki had joined the local tea club. It just happened to be the only club that didn't put his body under too much stress. So now he was slowly being burdened by another type of stress. Joy of being introverted.  
The club was.... Different from what he'd first anticipated. First of all it was made of mostly upperclassmen like Suzaku Baku, Allegri Valentino and Hayashi Arata, secondly, most of them appeared to be male with few exceptions like Fujimoto Yui and Hanamura Ryoko, thirdly, they were having very deep conversations.  
In middle of his second cup of tea, Naoki made the most alarming realisation of them all. The After School TeaTime Club (HT club for short (Houkago Chiitaimu) was made of the best students in the school, each of them in the top 20 on their respective fields. The teen shivered in silence as the club president, Seki Tetsuya, started to speak. "I see that you already noticed it, Oda-kun", the male said with perfect keigo (formal speech) to the new recruit of the club, "We don't often let random new people join our club". Tetsuya suddenly took a hold of Naoki's chin, titling his head upwards so he could look at him better. "But I've gone through your file, and I simply can't allow any of the sport teams claim you. Not after seeing your potential", Naoki's eyes widened revealing their real colour of amber for a split second, long enough for the club president to take a notice, smirk, and release the confused teen, who immediately fell back only to be caught by none other than Haruka.

"You're an interesting one Nao, and that's why we claimed you before everyone else could"

The raven's head was filled with questions, one of them being how and why this school had such a high count of foreign students. The girl next to him chuckled, making Naoki look at her questioningly. She waved him off with a laugh and the explanation of "That's the club president for you", which didn't help his confused mind at all.

Upon the club hours ending, the petite male found himself to be escorted by the club, each of them "just happening to be going to the same direction", Naoki inwardly called it bullshit but didn't actually mind, it's not like he'd had actual friends before. He was still unsure of what to make of them all, something inside of him telling that he could trust them. The group arrived at the large Japanese House that was owned by the new member, few of them gaping at it in wonder.

"Waa! Nao-chan! You didn't tell me that you were a rich boy!" Haruka exclaimed making Naoki shift bit uncomfortably. He really didn't know what to make of the situation. "Ah.. Umm.. No.. I, I inherited this from my grandfather and nothing else, I didn't know that it was a big one-", he mumbled while the club president strove inside as if he'd been there million times. Naoki followed after the older boy, explaining that he hadn't yet cleaned the whole house which only seemed to encourage the HT to take up different weapons (I mean cleaning equipment) and attacked their common enemy, dust. Within an hour, the club had settled down into the Japanese room to have tea and snacks much to the confusement of the young house owner.

Haruka took a deep breath.  
"You know Nao", wait, where'd the honorifics go, "When I first saw you in the hall, I thought that you were related to Sawadas, you look like you could be the poor kid's long lost brother". The girl's words made the room turn quiet until Arata coughed. Feeling embarrassed, the dark haired, and eyed, male explained that he'd thought the same way at first before he quickly added that there was nothing wrong with being related to the mysterious Sawada Tsunayoshi.  
Tetsuya hummed as he bit into his cheese cake, they'd stopped at the local shop on their way. "The trash is clumsy and unlucky, but he's not scum. I'd actually let him join the club if he'd ever wander into the clubroom, even if he was still just a middle schooler", Naoki stared at the older male, whose light brown eyes narrowed, "I've seen his potential. That kid is leader material, but someone needs to drag it out of him with force". It... Made somehow sense. Naoki stared at the group, blinking unsure of how to react to the information or having friends, or visitors. Wait, was he friends with these people? The more he stared, the more confused he grew, as he somehow could see different colours reflect from the people.  
He saw in total three people who had strong colour of orange in them, few who were green, couple yellow ones, purple, blues and reds. There was also one whose colour seemed like and odd mix of purple and blue. Was it called indigo? Blinking again, the reflections were gone, replaced by the regular view. He kneeled down to take a seat, though he was ultimately pulled to sit in the group that had been orange just a second ago. The club leader swung his arm over Naoki's shoulders in a friendly way. "Trash, don't sit next the lower quality", he mumbled as if taking offence in the teen's attempt of sitting down into the group of other coloured people. Allegri eyed Naoki for a second, as if seeing something in the teen before he exchanged looks with Suzaku and the woman who had been laughing at Naoki earlier. The rest of the group also slowly taking in the placement, before appearing to accept it as being official.

The poor raven kept sitting close to the taller and more muscular boy unsure of what to say, ultimately deciding to eat his share of the cake in silence.

Valentino glanced towards the window, his purple eyes meeting with a pair of black peas, something being delivered between him and the hidden person. "Touch him and you will pay" being the ultimate message to the lurker. As the eyes disappeared, Valentino relaxed, which didn't go unnoticed by the others, who were clearly aware of what was going on safe for the small Naoki, who was yet oblivious to what kind of group he'd been taken into.  
Tetsuya silently extended his hand and started to pet the gravity defying mob of hair that their new member had, absentmindedly wondering if the lion cub was aware of his own power. Probably not, after all it was clear that Naoki wasn't fully awake yet. Not like the old man who had owned the house had been. Brown eyes wandered around the room, meeting with grey ones, message was delivered and the lady of green narrowed her eyes.  
Was the heir of the local yakuza group really this keen on kickstarting the lion's criminal career or was there something else she hadn't noticed? Next to the said yakuza heir, Baku eyed his fellow yakuza leader to be, wondering if there'd be an alliance for the soon five leaders of their own groups. After all, a civilian sky of Naoki's caliber was a rare find. Though seeing into his past files, he surely hoped that the boy's life wouldn't fall short. Near the foreign originating girl, Haruka was feeling a pull towards the small teen, frowning to themself, they looked at Tetsuya with bleeding eyes. Eyes met, looks were averted, and the fiery older boy understood.

And he allowed it.

Next to Naoki, Valentino, too, saw what was to come, his smile turning sad as he backed off unnoticeably.

Nobody should ever try to get between a sky and a cloud.

As they left the traditional Japanese house with a huge garden, Haruka was frowning as they tested the newly made bond. They looked at the rest of the leaders of next generation with a hard look in those eyes. "He's not alright, Tsu, he needs the rest of the set or he'll perish".


	3. III

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To the more sensitive readers:  
> This chapter includes mentions of child abuse and toxic relationship/abuse within a relationship.

Tetsuya went through the files that had been dumped onto his table, frowning as he so did. The health records, the information, none of it was right about what was the reason behind the health complications of the newest HT member. He looked up at his closest people, fellow leaders and their right hand men, uncharacteristic worry painting his face. "Trash, we need to get the Sword Emperor on the case", his own little close companions Mikasa and Tama exchanging looks. It wasn't usual for their leader to make such decision, especially since the rain in question had hung his sword on the wall long ago, vowing to never take it up again to fight in the criminal organisations. The loss of his wife and the sanity of his own sky had been too much for the man, who'd become an anchor for the sky so they could have at least a chance of living somewhat normal life.  
"Will we contact the Broken Sky and ask for her help too, aniki?" Tama asked professionalism written all over him. And Tetsuya answered with a grunt. Tama, yakuza born and raised, swiftly complied to the wish of his leader, while the rest questioned how and why Tetsuya's men could even understand him. Was there a handbook for the communication style of Sumiyoshi-kai? If so then it'd really come in handy.

Valentino stood in the room himself feeling stiff and a bit alerted, after all he wasn't part of the clans that were directly involved with Tetsuya's group like Baku was. Heck, he and Beaulieu and Bellomo were all from Europe and it was known fact that the yakuza wasn't quite happy to have any of the Sicilian mafiosos around. But they tolerated it due to the fact that one of their former Clan heads had been descended from one of the most okay mafiosos of their time and the woman herself had shown the wonderful fighting spirit before being rendered to near vegetative state by her set being forcefully pulled apart by the deaths of most of her Guardians. The woman's son was also the only one left from the line capable of becoming the next Don of his mother's ancestral line and because of such, the Sumiyoshi-kai was ready to accept the other factions sending their people to the area.  
It was because of the mysterious Broken Sky that Valentino, Maria and Suri had been allowed to study abroad in the town, ultimately becoming fast friends with Tetsuya, but they still weren't exactly welcomed and they had to keep their heads down for the most part. They all had studied the ways of the yakuza just in case, but all of it was just too foreign for the Europeans. Heck, Baku wasn't much help himself either despite of being the heir of Suzaku clan.

Speaking of Baku, wasn't his actual last name Go? Why didn't he use that while he was studying and went with his clan's name instead? Ahh, there really was no point in questioning it was there.

The group decided to visit the locally famous sushi shop as a group, inviting the cloud Haruka along with the timid and shy Naoki.

To their great amusement, Haruka showed up in a suit, clearly having barely escaped the clutches of their father, who didn't quite approve of Haruka's cross dressing habits. Especially when Haruka was his solemn heir to inherit the tech company Tenoh from him. But the teen had never cared for the paperwork and swirling pens along with other unnecessarily annoying things.  
Naoki stared at the silverette stunned, he wasn't sure of how to react to the change. Haruka sighed before explaining his situation to the troubled teen.  
"I don't feel that I am either gender, I have days when I feel like being a boy, sometimes I feel more like a girl and dress to reflect that mood. Though I also have days when I'm just Haruka", they explained, making it a bit easier for Naoki to understand what he was seeing. "And today..?" he asked carefully, still unsure of himself. Haruka smiled softly, blue eyes reflecting the sun light and seemingly brightening the whole town.  
"Today I'm a boy"

The group started to follow the swirly trail to Takesushi, Valentino explaining why it was such a good place. Naoki listened in wonder, curious of what he'd see and taste in the near future.

The restaurant was charming little place, it had authentic feel to it and a friendly, calming atmosphere. The walls were mostly of wood and stone due to the industrial growth of Japan, but there were also a lot of rice paper walls and room dividers to even out the otherwise rough contrast.

Upon seeing them enter, the waiter of the shift quickly showed them more... Secluded table, much to the confusement of the petite boy, who hadn't yet gotten the full picture of who he was now acquitted with exactly. He knew that Haruka was kind of a big deal due to his father owning a big tech business, and Tetsuya seemed to be from a wealthy family too, but that was about it. The head chef himself came to collect their order, confusing the poor raven even further. And while he was ordering, Tetsuya spoke some shifty sounding lines.

Naoki, who had been too busy marvelling the selection didn't really pay attention to what was going on, but Yamamoto Sr. reacted immediately with couple lines that seemed to be part of a poem.

When Naoki finally came to the conclusion that he'd like to have the house special, the chef smiled warmly at him, before his eyes widened ever so slightly. Valentino noticed this. "Ah, Yamamoto, sir, he is not related to the person you think he is. Nao moved here from Osaka recently and has zero affiliations to the family you have in mind", he quickly defused the situation before it even started earning a thankful look from Naoki. "Thank you Tino", the raven said as he smiled while the chef resumed to his station. The blonde blinked confusedly at the boy, who blushed. "E, a, sorry, I just thought that you might like a nick name and and I'm having trouble with saying your name right so I figured", while the boy with gravity defying hair allowed his voice to fade into mere mumbles, his table group kept staring at him, an image of a baby lion stuck in their heads. "Cute" was the collective thought that was inside their minds, as at that moment they all shared at least one brain cell.  
They ate their orders while chattering comfortably, though there seemed to be certain topics that were actively avoided for some reason, like what each of the group are planning on doing with their lives. But hey, teenagers are often like that, without a direction of where to go and so forth.

As they left the restaurant, Yamamoto giving them some extra to take back home (isn't he just a good guy?), heard distant sounds of something akin to explosions. Naoki, unsure of what to think about it, wanted to go out and investigate it, but Baku was quick to catch his arm. "Err... They're using explosives on some of the old houses, controlled ones you know. I'm sure that it's fine", Naoki blinked as his mind registered the new information, his intuition kicking him on the head and telling him that he was being lied to. But he was sure that the older teen had a reason for it, so he let it slide.

On their way back, or more like to once again infiltrate Naoki's home, a... bald? Middle schooler charged at the small raven screaming about him taking his victory. Confusion written all over his face, Naoki was ready to step to the left and let the boy run past him. However, Tetsuya was having none of that and decided to grab the attacker while Valentino, Suri and Haruka stood nearer to Naoki, Suri deciding to ultimately cuddle the small boy much to the sad boy's shock. The baldy looked at Tetsuya, ready to say something snarky, but was soon glued to his place in fear as he registered who he was staring at. His jaw nearly fell to the ground from the shock as his brain caught on, especially more now that he could see that Naoki indeed wasn't the one he was really after.  
"Mochida Kensuke, ranked as number 137 in studies", it wasn't a pleasant voice that made its way out of the tall boy's throat. Tetsuya's eyes narrowed with apparent anger and disgust as he purred dangerously. "Scum like you shouldn't be allowed to live", Naoki shivered as he felt the pure killing intent dye the air in reddish colour. He struggled to get out of the frozen hug of Suri, eventually succeeding and dashing to Tetsuya, hugging his arm in a desperate attempt to get the older boy calm down. "Tetsu, please, he didn't mean it, he mistook me to someone else", his voice was pleading the older one to not harm the middle schooler who was now pale as bed sheet. "Trash, this annoyance is a bully who has been tormenting your doublegänger for years", the Yakuza heir answered making Naoki to halt and look at the boy. Really look at him.  
Mochida was pretty muscular, the way how his arms were more muscular than his feet, Naoki deduced that he was potentially into some sport that heavily relied on hands, like boxing or sort, though boxers usually were more ripped so it couldn't be that. The brown eyes to the younger teen were filled with pure horror as they were locked on Tetsuya's eyes.

"Tetsu, could you put him down? I want to talk with him and it's a bit straining to look up at him"

Mochida was dropped unceremoniously on the ground, where he fell on his ass, which by the way must've hurt quite the bit. Naoki stared at him for a while. Seconds dragged on and on in silence as they middle schooler kept staring at Naoki, unsure of what to say or think about him.   
"Why do you bully this Sawada?" Naoki asked as he kept reading into every word and movement of the other boy, not allowing him to escape his half lidded gaze. "Because Dame-Tsuna is no good! He messes everything up!" Naoki's mind registered a tiny amount of something that shouldn't have been there. Envy. "Is that it? You do realise that he won't ever be able to do better if everyone keeps forcing him back down"   
"A loser like he deserves it!"   
Rage, disgust, anger, confusion, self conflict, loneliness.  
"How's your home life?" the sudden question got the boy off guard. His eyes turning blank and confused at the same time. "What"  
"Your mother?"  
"It has nothing to-"   
"Ah, I see, so that's why... And your father?"   
"He's the manliest man to ever-"  
"Hmm you really are a bad liar Mochida. How often does he beat you?"

The club members kept staring at the scene, unsure of what exactly happened and how they had gotten to this point. But whatever it was, they now had a crying mess of a teenager in their hands. No not Naoki, but Mochida, who was now shaking from tears and confessing that he'd been jealous of how kind Mrs Sawada was and how good mother she was. It also turned out that Kensuke wasn't really interested in girls and his father was having none of that while the boy himself was pressured by his family and yet neglected all together. Shees. It was no wonder that the kid was taking it out in the first person he noticed.

Speaking if which...

"It was this Tsuna wasn't it? The one whose attention you really were after", Mochida turned suddenly very silent, trying to shrink into oblivion. He really sucked at hiding stuff. Naoki looked at his clean scalp and winced. "You pushed him too far and he snapped", he concluded which resulted in a sniff from from the other boy. "I just thought that if I'd get Kyoko then he'd look at me", Kensuke mumbled resulting in a light tap on the shoulder.  
"You. Are an idiot. You should've offered him kindness instead of provocation, it would've worked better and made sure that he really does look at you", Mochida looked at Naoki dumbfounded, you didn't make friends by being mean? What was this blasphemy? "I'd advise you to let it go for a while, concentrate on your studies and come back to him when you are ready to apologise. If he's anything like I've heard, he'll forgive you if you explain why you did like you did", with that piece of advice, Mochida staggered to his feet and started to walk slowly back home. Though he made a quick turn in order to bow and scream his gratitude to Naoki, who nearly had an heart attack from it.

Naoki rubbed his eyes tiredly while the HT Club congratulated him.

....only for the raven to suddenly drop on his knees as his face twisted in pain and agony.

Instinctively, Naoki grabbed the front of his shirt from the area where it hurt, which was right above his heart. His breathing cycle fastened as he kept gasping for air, unable to breath, sweat trickled down to his brow, yet he felt cold as ice. It was like someone had pierced his heart with a knife and a fork and kept pulling it apart. From his pain, he heard the alarming shouts of his fellow club members, his friends, as the pain became harder and harder to stand.  
He didn't know how long it took for the merciful darkness to claim him, but as it did so, his mind was praying for death to end the pain for once and for all. In his unconscious state, he didn't notice the arms that lifted him up. He couldn't feel the warmth of the chest that he was pressed gently against, didn't notice the shaking that came from the legs that were speeding him to the hospital. His senses were turned off, his mind was nearly void of every single thought, word, colour, sound or sensation. There was nothing but the void. And the tiny spark that kept pushing away the knife in his heart. There was only silence and the heartbeat that was in tune with his. There was peace and promise for freedom.  
And so he embraced the darkness and laid his head down to rest. Unresponsive to the sensation of someone stroking his hair gently and the hand that was squeezing his, unresponsive to the voice that kept asking him to wake up.

But Naoki knew that he couldn't wake up yet, _he wasn't ready_ yet.

He was _broken_.

Like a porcelain doll that fell from the shelf on the floor.

_Shattered_.

Like a vase against the wall. 

_There was something twisted inside of him that didn't belong there_ , _something that needed to be first taken out_. Like a leech it was feeding off of his mind, body and soul. He knew what it was. He knew who had put it there.

_He had no means to get it out_.

_It was the remains of the poison his ex-girlfriend had left behind_ , poison of soul that could manifest itself physically whenever it wanted. The doctors couldn't find it because they didn't know what they were looking for, Naoki couldn't erase it because he had no means to.

So in his hopeless state, he started to call for help. Wishing for someone who knew how to heal him to answer his call. He sent his signal as far as he could, but only an echo answered. Within his soul, he rested in silence, waiting to be saved as he could do nothing else. And in his soul he hear the phrase _"I'm not ready to die yet"_ be played on repeat.


	4. IV

The void was so peaceful and silent, there was no room for emotions other than serenity and calm. It was as if someone has set loose a group of captured mermaids who'd then in turn brought back your tears, but you weren't crying because of being sad or angry, you just felt glad to have that ability once again within your reach. Naoki wanted to stay like that forever and ever.

In the hospital room, the HT was having their tea time to make sure that they'd be there would the boy awaken. In the room next to the pale raven's they heard sounds of dismay and shuddered collectively, it was Hibari once again wasn't it. Sounds of hurried ste- sticks? We're heard and the doublegänger of their newest member bursted in obviously not in a shape good enough to be walking around let alone running. A child sized hitman peeked behind the obviously Sawada Tsunayoshi, only to stare at the group. Rude. Tetsuya put down his cup of darjeeling.  
"We're here waiting for out friend to awaken from coma", he said in an even voice, which was caught also by the perfect who was wearing a pajama of all things. The bloodthirsty teen staggered into the room to observe the boy, but was shocked to find out that the patient asleep was nearly identical to his current prey.

"Oda Naoki, 17 years old, comatosed due to sudden pain, potentially a heart attack", the Tenoh Corp heir said as he sensed the question that demanded answer, "So far the doctors haven't been able to identify the root to his sickness especially since he started to showcase the symptoms only a year ago, he was transferred to this city for better health care professionals". Hibari's brow arched as he kept looking between the two, Naoki and Tsuna, but he soon grunted and came to the conclusion that they couldn't be related. As he left the room, he gave one last glance at the unconscious boy.  
"Omnivore, you better wake up and get healthy soon so I can fight you."

Tsuna would've stayed in the room tok had it not been for his own friends bursting in and causing Tetsuya to be annoyed over their doings. Gokudera nearly blew the room up, only stopped by Tsuna's pleading and the mention of a comatosed patient who may be harmed by the explosion. Haruka's explanation came once again handy and the silverette withdrew immediately upon the mention of an unknown illness, a struck of grief visible in his own eyes. The room went silent once again and hours passed, the only reason why they were allowed to be there after the visiting hours was due to the Sumiyoshi-Kai practically owning the said hospital. The head nurse was actually Tetsuya's cousin twice removed. As the night fell, another person stepped into the room.

Naoki wasn't sure how long he'd spent in the abyss, but it didn't matter since time had always been meaningless to him. While in the comforting darkness, he was able to look at his own memories and understand better what had happened though he wasn't actively awake nor was he really dreaming. He was just... Remembering. While he was at this odd part time of his, he realised that certain people in HT kept breaking the rule of having jewellery. Tetsuya, Valentino, Suri and Baku all were wearing rings, though they appeared to be family heirlooms. Maybe that was the reason they were allowed? As he was travelling about his own memories, he sensed someone, an intruder, enter his psyche. Intrigued, the boy started to go towards the blue glow.

Yamamoto Tsuyoshi didn't often do favours, but when it came to the Sumiyoshi-Kai and its current heir, he couldn't help but run to their aid as soon as he could. It wasn't often that the group would call him off retirement after all.  
And now that he was looking at the pale face of the patient lying on the hospital bed, he had no doubt that answering the hurried call was the right choice. His senses, still sharp like his swords, picked up a disgusting detail that he'd missed previously when meeting the boy in the sushi shop.

"A flame leech." he said with an even voice, which ultimately meant that someone would die and soon. Preferably from his blade. "Someone implanted a flame leach on this boy and it has been slowly eating him from the inside, attaching itself to the flame core, located right next to the heart", Tetsuya's eyes widened at this, there was no way that someone would do that to someone like Naoki. Not unless... "They tried to dispose of him? But why?" elder Yamamoto soared a glance to the heir before he scoffed. "Isn't it obvious? They tried to harmonise with him, but his flames were too strong for them so the threads that were made kept snapping", it made sense in a twisted and horrible way, but to implant a flame leach on someone was too extreme and way too dirty. It would've been more merciful to just shoot him in the head and call it a day. But someone wanted him to suffer.

They watched Yamamoto to call someone, a former acquaintance or so and explained the situation, called in a favour, threatened the person at the other end before he turned to the unconscious Naoki and started to do something. That something made his brown eyes turn light blue with indigo hues and the mood of the room peaceful. The former yakuza assassin then dived into the patient's mind, all the while he waited for his contact to arrive.

Naoki stared at the person in front of him with unsure eyes, he was pretty sure that people weren't supposed to glow like that. Feeling wary, the boy walked closer towards the man. He blinked for couple times as his eyes started to make out features with the mix of darker blue and light blue, he knew this person.

"Mister Yamamoto?" he asked silently for verification. The man blinked before he nodded to prove the assumption to be correct. In the darkness there wasn't really much to sit on nor to lean on like Naoki preferred doing while awake. Therefore he merely sat down on the ground only now realising that he wasn't wearing what he usually was and his hands looked... Different.

They were slightly bigger than what he was used to, the fingers were longer and had purple orange nails with purple and blue decorations. They were also slim and somewhat lady like, but he had always known to take after his mother's side of the family by his appearance than his father's. And his mother's family, Sakurais, were known for their men passing as women with ease if they so desired. Heck one of the family legends stated that their family got its name from a samurai, who had dressed up in the clothes of a courtesan in order to fool his enemy. The legend had it that the samurai had completely drawn them in, enamoured them and then turned the enemy against itself as their soldiers tried to win his favour. He'd only claimed his name to be "Sakura" and from that he'd become known as Sakurai Masao, the first Sakurai to gift the family name forward.  
Naoki patted himself through and through, noting how everything else was still somewhat same, his face was more mature, eyes narrower and features more defined, but the familiar mob of gravity defying hair was still there along with his sideburns that were ever so slightly curled. It wasn't ever stated why this was, but it was apparently inherited from his father's side of the family. Grandma Oda had had them too. But his clothes... Weren't there. Why was he wearing hakama along with the rest of the traditional clothes was beyond him, and when could only hope that the colours weren't clashing too much. Who would've thought that inside of his own... Mind? He'd be wearing a purple hakama of slightly darker shade, kimono shirt that was light orange and a white hitatare that had ice blue and orange flower patterns. Naoki allowed his dominant hand travel by the right sleeve, taking in its texture. How he hadn't noticed the change sooner was beyond him, but his uh.. Visitor seemed to be taken by surprise.

"Naoki?" the blue reflection of the elder Yamamoto said uncertainly into the abyss. Naoki looked at him, naturally tilting his head in question. Who else would be there besides him? "I didn't know that you were an active sky", the confusion could be nearly tasted in the air.

The teen wasn't sure what the man was talking about and he was pretty sure that the confusion was written all over his face as the man soon left a deep sigh and started to explain.   
"In the early age of humanity, there were people who were of different race entirely, these people could produce something called flames by using pure willpower", Tsuyoshi said as he drew his hand in a line, drawing a symbol of fire in the air, "and that flame was pure white, like burning magnesium". Naoki nodded slowly, he wasn't entirely sure of how this was relevant to the way the man had had referred to him. But the story time was not quite over yet. "That flame was called Spectre flame. But over time, as the two human races mixed together, it broke into four sets of flames, each set representing one element", Tsuyoshi lifted four of his fingers up.

"These sets were named after the components of the element and the leading flame of them carry the name of the elements themselves; Sky, Earth, Sea and Fire", he put down one of the fingers only three of them now remaining, "Out of these four, only three are now left, as the Fire set died out for one reason or another, the sets for Earth and Sea are rare to come by as the Sky set currently is the one to be the easiest to find".  
He then turned his hand to gesture at Naoki. "You are a holder of a leading flame, though I'm not yet sure about which set you represent, but it's most likely to be one tied to the Sky set as it is most common to come by"  
Naoki blinked in confusion, still not quite sure of what to make of the situation nor the information given. He looked around slowly before he started to pay more attention to the man's glowing figure. "Are you a.. Sea..?" he tried to guess, but from the amused look on the man's face it was obvious that the teen was wrong. "No, I am part of a sky set, though my flame is water based. I am a rain", the man says as he joins the teen in his.... Somewhere sitting. "I guess that I need to explain the colour code for you"

Tsuyoshi took a serious stance, his whole body resonating with something that could be only seen as lecture mode, Naoki sweatdropped silently at it. "Each set follows similar colour code. Orange for the leading one, in the Sky set it's referred to as the sky flame, red to storm, blue for rain, green for lightning, yellow for sun, indigo for mist and purple for cloud. While each set has the same basic colour wheel, their shade may be different from the other sets along with their abilities", oh no, there was a lot of information to be processed. Naoki felt himself tense as he felt the twisted move within, Tsuyoshi frowned.

"A flame leech? Someone really wanted to get you out of the picture kid, in the most gruesome way possible", the sushi chef said as he got back up. Naoki glanced into the direction of the feeling and shuddered inwardly. What he saw was somewhat huge looking eel like creature, its crab like jaws clomping on the air as it was being held back by something. From touching Naoki himself in the darkness. The teen stared at the barricade and slowly looked back at his hakama, noticing the same colour scheme of the barricade. Tsuyoshi followed his gaze, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly. The eel was forcing the teen into full activation, most likely in order to devour the flames, and the boy's will to like, rendering him into brain dead state of being. Truly a horrendous plan. Luckily enough the boy was secondary cloud, which held the leech back for some time. He could only hope that it'd be enough.

"I need to return to reality, but worry not, I called in someone who can help you to get rid of the contamination within", and just like that the man was gone.

Back in the hospital room, Tsuyoshi opened his eyes and was greeted by the group of teens, and one painfully familiar doctor, whose octopus-like hairdo definitely wasn't making him look any younger. "So what's the deal? What am I against here and what makes it so bad that you called in a favour in order to make me operate on a man", the doctor said clearly not wanting to be present. Tsuyoshi rubbed his temples tiredly. "A flame leech on a civilian sky none of the less", this information made the other man drop the patient record file he'd been going over and curse loudly. Flame leech was usually hard one to get rid off of, especially from a sky patient.  
Flame leeches were an old yet terrifying technique developed by certain faction of mists who'd rather see their victims to suffer through inhumane pain, which often left their victims barely alive, some going insane, while others could only be declared brain dead, yet their organs could never be used as a donations to save lives of other patients. "How long has it been there?", "Two years at most"  
This prompted the man to curse in every single language he knew, which was seven to be precise, before he moved onto the next question. "Secondaries?", "Cloud, recently activated, not sure if there is more", "Well at least that's something, it's most likely fending off the leech, how many did you spot, Yoshi?", "Only one".

The rest of the HT club watched how the duo kept balling with their questions and answers until the doctor, Shamal as Yamamoto Sr had called him, to move next to the comatosed teenager. None of the teenagers knew what exactly the man did, only that it'd help their friend to live. Somehow.

They were ushered out of the room, their flame signatures might make it harder for the petite teen to fight the leech. However, this caused two of their younger members to become even more concerned and restless than they already were, Haruka phasing around the hallway and giving the nurses warning looks whenever they'd try to get closer to the room. This behaviour was to be expected from the young cloud who had a strong lightning secondary, but the fact that Yui, the first year member of the club was herself doing something that could only been seen as nervous Wall decoration with the usage of her own mist flames. Curious enough, the girl hadn't ever shown to have flames in the first place, yet she was now actively painting flowers and trees onto the wall behind her perhaps subconsciously using the said flames. Tetsuya stopped to look at her in surprise, his eyes then turning towards Baku who was actively avoiding his gaze.

"Yui and I have a bond through her cloud flames, I think that she accidentally bonded with Naoki while we were spending time with him earlier", the explanation somehow made sense while it made no sense at all, does this mean that she was what what others would refer to as half guardian? Was it even possible to share one? What was real anymore? Where lies the truth? Is the author having an existential crisis midday of all times while watching his brother's cat nap happily in an armchair? Is the hotel truly Trivago? Am I just making up these questions to build up unnecessary tension? Who knows?

Yui gave a pointed look at the whispering group, feeling irked herself. She was a yakuza born assassin, first trained in cloud flames, then mist due to her duality with them. "It's more or less a family trait", she said stopping the conversation before it even properly started, "Since many of us have equally strong secondary flames, it's usual for us to go back and forth between two skies, though usually those skies are within the same syndicate". She then glanced towards the door and sighed, clearly unhappy to not be able to be in the same area as her second sky as the hospital room had been quickly flame blocked from the outside forces.

The newly created bonds were still soft and frail, which usually caused the newly bonded Guardians to spend extra much time with their skies, some even going to a fanatic frenzy when not in their presence while worshipping the earth they walked on when with them. The cute factor of the sky and their appearance was another huge factor to the Guardians' behaviour upon first bonding with them and Naoki, as both newly activated sky with raw flames and his small frame were the type to send any that he'd bond with to the overly protective state if they lost their concentration all of a sudden. His young and little clumsy flames also made the more well reversed flame users to wish to somewhat protect him, as the usually aloof and cold Tetsuya along with the sometimes explosive Baku showcased.

"You know... There's just something in that guy that makes you want to root for him", Valentino said as he was leaning on the wall, staying almost next to the door. Suri looked at his direction, her preferred weapon of choice, a fan, covering half of her face. "I know what you mean Allegri, you just want to follow him and see what he will do", her Japanese was accented and closer to how people spoke it in the past, but that somehow added to the charm of the French mafiosa. Tetsuya kept silent, thinking to himself about the whole deal with the Osakan teen and how people were reacting to him. For the most part, people seemed to flock onto him, feeling the pull of his sky flame, but some were just as fast to despise him. He had a way to turn people around and get them genuinely want to look at what he was up to and get to know him, he was mysterious personality in how guarded he was, but he didn't actually hide anything actively. He was also a terrible liar which usually wasn't a good thing, but for him, his honest nature was more of an advantage than a hindrance. From the silence, Yui's amused voice carried through.

"He's a protagonist and a dorky idiot, he does what he feels to be like whenever he feels it to be right and that's his biggest advantage and major character flaw", she said smiling that little mischievous smile of hers as if she'd just made a joke that only she could understand. Upon hearing this statement, Tetsuya bursted out into a laughing fit. His rough voice making it indescribable type, but if you'd hear it, you'd be surprised to find out that it was truly laughter. The sudden burst managed to startle his own Sun Mikasa (also known as Chou, butterfly) who was quick to give him a soft glare for managing to so scare her. Tetsuya dried his tears that had formed into his eyes from laughing too much, forgetting to breathe.

"The Trash is the type to avoid attention all together but still ends up being the center of it, ironic!"

Next to Valentino, the door into the hospital room opened and both Trident Shamal and Yamamoto Tsuyoshi stepped out, both looking worn down from whatever went down in that room.

Haruka speed walked up to them, blue eyes filled with mixed emotions, fear being the most easy to distinguish.

"How is he?"


	5. V

Naoki's eyes fluttered ever so slightly as he was still resting, nearly ready to wake up.

"He's exhausted and needs to rest", Shamal said as he showed a tiny glass vial filled with inky looking substance. "This is the flame leech that had been implanted in his person, it forced him into activation state almost completely. Luckily he has a strong cloud secondary, which had been repelling it for a long while", the doctor shook the vial making the flame based creature squirm disgustingly. Tetsuya paled as he recognised the leftover flame signature. His brown eyes were tinted with reddish anger as he understood what this meant. He then turned at Baku, with a serious look in his eyes. "Send your best to the Yukimura clan and take out their leaders. They clearly should not be allowed to be part of our union", he barked out his order before turning back at the doctor, "anything we need to know?". Taken aback by the teen, Shamal stared at the leader-to-be. "He needs to find the rest of his Guardians for full recovery", the doctor said as he tossed a paper to the Tenoh Corp heir, who caught it with ease.  
The teen immediately started to read it, Yui peeking over his shoulder.

Naoki's eyes opened in a flash and upon seeing the unfamiliarly white ceiling, he sat up faster than one could say "cat". He looked around the room, panting until finally calming down as he realised that he was in a hospital room. From next to his bed, the boy found a letter from the older Yamamoto and a get well soon card from the HT Club. He smiled at the card before he reached at the letter in order to read it.

"Find the rest of his set? But how can we do that if we can't move him around?" Baku asked as he sent the order Tetsuya had given to his elders. Baku may be the heir, but he still had to obey the rule of his father known as Masao. Haruka looked down to his feet, thinking back to the past couple days. Hadn't he felt the pull of his sky's flames recently-  
"I think... He may have been calling them unconsciously? Before he was moved, I felt something akin of an impulse go through me and... I think... After he was moved, something responded to his call", he said as he kept staring at his shoes. He'd felt like something, someone was coming closer to them, a lot closer, and fast. And he didn't know how he should react to it. Next to the genderqueer teen, the Mist nodded as a verification to her fellow guardian, except that she'd felt a symphony of flames answer, five in total.

Naoki put down the letter, his amber eyes being fully open since god knew when. It was all just so... Interesting. And dangerous sounding. He'd grown up as a son of a cop and with it he'd learned to not go for the criminal path. And yet.... Here he was. In a pinch, where it was clear that his days as a clean civilian were over. He had flames, he was the leading flame type, he was civilian born, all of these meant that he'd have the rockiest path ahead of him. And he was to meet with a group called the Vindice of he wanted to get his flames sealed? Or he could ask for a man called Talbot to create some sort of an outlet for his flames. He put the letter inside the pocket of his jacket to make sure that nobody would find it and called the nurse. As he so did, he instinctively turned to look at the window, he had a feeling that something was going to happen soon.

His name was Romulus, Romulus Black, but he preferred to be called Cain like the gypsy circus he'd joined did. He'd once been a heir to a rich and ancient house that was known for its assassins and grude torture methods, they were a storm lineage. Needless to say, Cain had decided to leave that life, joined a circus under the name Cain and becomes stunt man like his childhood hero Skull de Mort was. Hell, even his own suit was made after the immortal stuntman's though it carried the shades of red rather than purple. His mob of black hair was over grown from its former short and sleek style due to his life as a stuntman, but his icy blue eyes were still as stunning as always. From beneath his angry looking brow, the male kept observing the sleepy town of Namimori. His group had recently arrived there, and then he'd felt something go through him, begging him to arrive as soon as he could. And he wasn't the only one who had heard it.

The old lady Vadoma, blind by her eyes but not by her mind, had also felt the call of the young man in distress. And she'd told him to go to him. "Your King is at distress, go Red Knight, if you hesitate, it might be too late", was what she'd said, ultimately freeing him from his ties to them. And there he was now, observing the town, trying to locate the person who'd been trying to find him. He'd tested already few times to send out his own aura, or forecast like the seer Vadoma had called it, but he hadn't heard anything back from the mysterious person. He would've given up if it hadn't been for the indigo shaded aura answering him and told him where to go.

Cain jumped onto his motorbike, Honda F4i for my fellow motorbike fanatics, soon speeding it into its top speed. He had no time to waste and the hospital was far on the east side of the city. He passed a suspicious looking group of teenagers who were fighting amongst each other, and a single teen with pair of tonfas, but his mind deemed them as unimportant figures.

Yui stood in front of the hospital room's door, her own mist flames scoping the area, with ease, she picked up a rain in the city along with a young sun and a duo that consisted of a lightning and another mist. She relaxed ever so slightly as she deemed that the set was indeed in the city, most of them only recently arriving from the looks of it. The storm who was currently nearest to their location had taken most of her attention as it belonged to someone who was little older than them. Okay, most likely at least 3 years older than them, but that's just semantics. No need to judge the man based on the age of his Guardians.

She felt him before she actually saw him, the red man with mixed flames of storm, cloud and rain, his actions being calm like right before the storm, yet beneath his facade it was clearly boiling. When he came into the view, the two had already accepted each other as fellow Guardians, once the door had been opened into the hospital room, they'd all been welcomed home by the flames of their common sky.

Naoki looked a lot healthier than when Yui had previously seen him, albeit a bit weak from the long procedure of getting the flame leech out of his system. Cain stopped awkwardly on the door, torn between the need to swoop into the room and embrace the petite teen and his own shyness.  
Yui beelimed to the newly awakened sky, her dark eyes narrowing dangerously. "If you even think about getting up until you've rested enough, I'll kick your ass so badly that you won't be able to sit down for a month", Naoki blinked at thud behaviour, his eyes looking for someone who could explain this to him, but it was no avail, it was as if the HT had suddenly lost their sense of hearing. "I am your half Mist, Nao, also the rest of your set are already in the town, but they won't be showing themselves so easily", she said as she took the teens hand while the said teen was silently panicking. He still needed that glass of water very badly, his throat was so dry that speaking itself was a hard task.

The mist smiled suddenly to him, ruffling his hair affectionately while beckoning the storm to fully come in. The storm appeared to panic ever so slightly which only caused the assassin to laugh. His almost childish reactions were adorable to her. "Chill Storm, you can and should be near Nao now, he's your sky after all", with this, the male started to walk closer to the hospital bed, his blue eyes scanning the people inside unsure of how to feel about them. Once he'd finally gotten to the near distance to the teen, Cain felt something snap into its place.

He blinked few times as his vision turned more vivid when it came to colours, as if he'd been wearing grey lenses and someone had suddenly snatched them away, revealing the world as it was. Bright, colourful, full of emotion. He felt a small hand pat his shoulder and turned, his eyes saw a young wo-ma-, rather feminine looking teen in a suit, staring back at him, their own blue tinted eyes wide. Feeling some kind of kinship, the storm quickly decided to be this creature's older brother by default. The being also seemed to accept this before they once again turned their attention to the resting sky on the bed.

Yui, noting that the two had no idea how to react to their respective bonds frowned, did she honestly have to do everything around here? She clapped her hands together in faked cheerfulness that hid behind her irritation and bloodthirsty nature. "Okay then! Haru, storm! You've NEEVER had a flame bond before, yes?", the older man mumbled his name to be Cain, but was ignored by the quirky mist who was too busy with her lecture, "Your bonds are young and because of this they're also VEEERY fragile, hence you'll need to be as close to Nao as possible. Share a bed with him if you must, (-Naoki squeaked at this mention-) but you HAVE TO BE close to him until your bond stabilises, which usually takes couple days, a week at max". From the way she spoke it was more than clear that she was annoyed and annoyance was not a good colour on Yui. Naoki buried his face into his hands as the nurse finally brought him the glass of water he'd asked a while ago.

Haruka looked at Yui annoyance written over his face. "How come you don't need to do the whole be close thing?" "I am a mist hence I can manifest my flames to be near him all the time. And also because why not"  
While bickering with the silverette, Yui couldn't help but to think about how different from the other skies Naoki was, her treacherous mind trying to make her believe into the impossible, which in turn made her snort.  
The impossible in question? Naoki was part of either Ocean set or the Fire set. Which was ludacris due to the first one being nearly extinguished and the latter was already a dead set.

Each flame set had some form of existence that they could bend to their will:

Sky set ignored the laws of time.  
Earth ignored the laws of place.  
Ocean ignored the laws of probability.   
And then there was the fire. The dead set.  
If each set was tied to the existence itself, the four pillars of existence them being time, place, probability and reality, was it possible for the last set to be ignoring the physical world all together? She really needed to find some of the older texts to study. It did make sense in a way.

The pure skies were capable of transcending bonds and even knowledge through their flames only, the Vongola and its long tradition being sole proof of that. The Earth seemed to be able to feel its kin through the whole world, not needing the Guardians to be close for the Don to be able to sense them, the Shimon Famiglia's golden days has been heavy handedly glinting to that direction. The ocean set was mainly using the mirror worlds in the past to be able to find its own set, there was no big family there left, though there were whispers of a new ocean flame user by the name Byakuran being tossed around.

Maybe the family library had data of the Fire Set. It really would brighten Yui's day to learn more about it.

Especially when it was common knowledge that the Arcobaleno was working as a balancing force to something the sum of the flames used creating an artificial white flame, whatever it was for.

Yui's thoughts were interrupted by the sensation of someone tugging on her flames. Her eyes turned down to meet up with amber of her upperclassman, who still looked like he'd be in the middle school, genetics are weird like that. Naoki tilted his head on question as if he'd noticed something being wrong and sure enough he soon asked if the girl was alright. Yui was taken back from this question, her mind racing as she was startled by the question. Was this kid actually related to the Broken Sky? No, it couldn't be, there was no crossing for the Fujimoto and Oda nor Fujimoto and Sakurai at any point. Though apparently in the maternal line of this child's grandmother, who was Hongo by her maiden name, was bit of Italian mixed in. "I'm alright, Nao, just thinking", she answered to her second sky, who nodded slowly, not quite believing her, yet choosing to not press on it.

It was at this moment that Tetsuya decided to butt in, his large hands snatching Naoki's lot smaller pair. The yakuza heir stared at the smaller teen intensively searching for signs of pain and hurt, but as he found nothing, he took a deep breath. "Oda. I apologise for what you had to go through in the hands of one of my clans, I've made arrangements to make sure that they won't do anything of the sort again", Naoki blinked as his brain stumbled over this new piece of information. He then allowed his eyes to lock into the stare with the older boy, ignoring the oddly romantic pose he'd been forced into. "Oh.. Uh.. So... You're a... Yakuza", the raven said with an unsure voice if he understood the situation correctly. "Trash, I am not just any Yakuza, I am the next in line to be the leader of Sumiyoshi-Kai"

_Oh._   
_**Ohhh.** _

Well then..

Naoki's eyes were filled with uncertainty as he didn't know what to make of the situation, his gaze darting from one face to another in confirmation. And yet... The voice inside of him told him that Tetsuya was telling him the truth.  
"You... Won't be trying to get rid of me... Right..?" he squeaked with higher voice than he'd meant to do, Tetsuya silently dubbing him as "Squeaky toy". Tetsuya's eyes were clouded with hurt, but he accepted it. After all, Naoki had gone a lot during the past couple years. And he had been a target so reaction like that was natural. Tetsuya smiled sadly at the petite boy, while Yui's ship senses were going wild, and ruffled his hair affectionately. "No, trash, but I'll be making sure that you'll become the best God damn leader you can ever be to your group", the older teen then backtracked for a second in his thoughts, "Though you won't be creating a clan for yourself, your flames are actively pulling the foreigners into it, which more or less makes you not be qualified to be yakuza. The car-trash can help you with learning the ways of their faction". Valentino rolled his eyes at the nickname but agreed to the preparations.

Yui walked to the window and took a look at the sky that was starting to clear out of the clouds that had been blocking it until now. Next or her Baku was also paying attention to what was going on in the outside world. "He won't be released for another three days", the blonde male said as he felt the soundless question in his core. The girl nodded in approval, she would've made the hospital keep him in for the extra days just to make sure that Naoki would be fine. She felt the man bonded to her cloud attribute tug on it in questioning manner and she instantly knew what he wanted to know. "There are several elements drifting in the city, all of them have the same undertone as Nao has, probably his set", she then looked directly at Baku in the eye, "The sun is several years younger, but we could ask the King to take him into the club despite of it, the faster he bonds with Naoki, the better". Baku silently agreed on it, but his mind was actively trying to figure out the best timing for each guardian to be presented. He felt a hand touch lightly his own, Yui was looking at him with that observatory look of hers. "They'll come once they're ready and many of them are broken just like the sky himself", understanding what this meant, the teen slipped parts of his own flame to the Club president. As the heir of Sumiyoshi-Kai, Tetsuya had a special ability that only ran in his bloodline; the ability to bond with his fellow Skies would he choose to. This ability was the reason why Sumiyoshi-Kai was as well organised as it was despite of being one of the biggest organisations in Japan with multiple clans. Tetsuya was still himself choosing the clan heads he'd bond with and thus far he'd only support five to the clans as an addition to his own Guardians. He was tempted to try to bond with the Allegri, Beaulieu and Oda, but he knew them enough to know that it'd be immoral of him to force such obedience on them, especially with the last of them having strong cloud secondary.

Tetsuya allowed his own reddish-orange flame to respond to the ones that were brushing against his own, the message was forwarded and Baku was soon walking out of the door.

Yui wandered next to the fiery Tetsuya, her eyes never leaving the group that was chattering quietly on the bed area. "You're sending Nanami to him at the end of the week", it wasn't a question, this was the truth that could never be denied. If a mist wanted to know something, they didn't even need to ask as they redd others like an open book. Tetsuya grunted as an answer. "What makes you think that her flames won't attack him? She hasn't been able to control them since the fall of her set", "The trash isn't the same set as the others", Yui kept staring at Naoki's relaxed posture, feeling the warmth that was radiating from him. "There are still four sets, but the last one has been in dormant state. Fire is the hardest one to activate", Yui's eyes flashed now fully open as she wanted to strangle the male next to him for obviously knowing something that she didn't and yet. And yet. He was holding onto it. Inside his own mind. Build a barrier that she, an expert Mist and a mind player, couldn't break through. Just around that tiny detail! How infuriating! She evened her breath. "So Nao is a Fire set sky?", "I didn't say that he was"

Was it acceptable to throw a yakuza leader-to-be out of the second story of the building?

Tetsuya smirked before he leaned in closer to the angry half guardian. "There's an interesting amount of people in Kyoto, who have untapped potential in them. And none of them will ever achieve it for they haven't felt despair nor the brightest amount of hope"

Tetsuya laughed to himself as if he'd just told the joke of the century and with that he excused himself from the room leaving behind one fuming mist and a group of very confused people. Most of them knew better than to ask, but two of them who were new to the situation were left in total confusion and curiosity.

Damn those yakuza people.


	6. VI

It was Saturday when Naoki finally was released from the hospital, but he wasn't allowed to return to school for another week. HT kept visiting him during the week, occasionally a brown haired woman wearing a traditional kimono was accompanying them. Naoki didn't know how to react to her, but it wasn't like she did anything really save for staring him. There was just something slightly unsettling about her, maybe it was how dim her eyes looked, maybe it was her doll like posture, maybe it was that fixated smile that appeared to be disowned by her whole being, but one thing he was sure of. She was hurt just as badly as he was, maybe even more.

After the first full week of school was done and over with, the woman finally decided to speak.

"I am Tomofuji Nanami, the former leader of the Tomofuji group, currently out of action sky and a housewife", her voice was a little higher than Naoki had expected, but that didn't really answer his other questions. Like what was she doing there, why was she broken, could he help her in some way. "I will be your teacher regarding flame usage. I may not be able to use mine effectively anymore, but I can still teach you what I know, I will also visit you twice a week, but if anyone asks, I am your English tutor, do you understand?"  
Naoki nodded in silence, noting that the woman was indeed in higher ranking than he was, even Tetsuya was giving her space and it wasn't the normal "this person is older than I am" crap, it was the kind of respect that had to be earned. Naoki shot a glance towards the older boy, who answered to his stare with a steady glare. "She is the only known Sky within Sumiyoshi-kai to have been able to survive losing their Guardians. Most of the Skies become completely vegetative or lose their minds after losing half of them, from her set only one remains alive", Tetsuya shuddered, he didn't want to even imagine what that felt, not to mention that he as a sky whose ability was to bond with other Skies was at higher risk of coming across such pains. Skies were rare for one reason and one reason alone.

 _They were often hunted down like prey_.

Nanami coughed politely, assuming the attention to herself once again. "I will ask for one thing in return from you, Oda", her voice turned lower and more dangerous, "I am housing a man with a curse that might be broken temporarily by your flames, I will teach you the means, and you will be testing the technique on him. I owe that man a lot for he has been there for my son when I myself haven't been able to. At least not yet, I am not fully well, I need to find a new set to make sure that my recovery will go smoothly", Naoki nodded, still not quite understanding what the hell was going on. But sure, it made sense. Maybe. In some other universe.

Practising these "flames" onto someone else sounded bad and immoral, surely miss Tomofuji had asked the man about it previously, right? _Right_? _ **Shit**_.

Valentino was there with Naoki all the way, the young sky offering his support to his confused brother in all but blood. He didn't really know why he wanted to root for the other boy, nor did he really understand what had moved him to worry about him. It just... The second he'd seen the boy, he'd known that he liked espresso, preferred sandwiches over cake and had time periods he needed to spend alone.   
It was as if he'd met him before. But he knew that he hadn't. It had been like that for every member of the HT Club. They'd somehow felt familiar. Maybe they just reminded them of someone else.  
"Naoki, would you like to go visit this new café with me? I don't really feel comfortable going by myself", the purple eyed boy said as he pulled the Japanese boy onto his feet after his training session. The sessions were brutal in many senses. Naoki had to concentrate a lot of energy and will to bring out his flames and each time he needed to stay in that stance for hours. It was no wonder that the Amber-eyed teen was exhausted by the time his mentor allowed him to stop.

Valentino recognised the training technique, it was commonly applied on female flame users due to their inability to put up enough muscle and by that build stamina. That was also the secret behind women being more efficient with flames and being capable of bringing them up in their full glory even on their silver years where men could barely make a spark.

Naoki smiled thankfully, his eyes tired from all that hard work he'd just done. A break like that sounded like music to his ears. And Valentino's heart skipped a beat as he felt the urge to smother his friend and protect him from all the evils from the world. Bubble wrap sounded like a good idea.  
No, Valentino wasn't feeling practically interested in Naoki on romantic level, it was more like an older brother wanting to lock his younger sister into a tower for safe keeping. Naoki just.. Was so innocent somehow. Valentino knew that the petite raven had gone through a lot, seen even more, but somehow none of that appeared to stick with him and he still appeared to be innocent and caring like a young child. And the young Allegri Don-in-training wanted to keep it that way.

While they kept walking, one could swear that they saw a reflection of two adult men who looked eerily like the duo walking in their place. This effect was especially noted by one baby sized Hitman, who was riding on top of the hair of his student.

He'd even recognised the people in the reflection as Dante "Allegro" Altamura and Zen'Ichiro "Kaze" Kamitani, two great hitmen from the era of Vongola Secondo. Both of them specialising in swift and quick movements that took out their targets within mere moments. Growing up Reborn had learnt of them from his teacher and wanted to be like them, had learned of them and their tricks, tried to master them for ages, never quite succeeding. And now seeing two teenagers, high schoolers from the looks of it, who resembled them greatly really made him wonder if there was anyone who could truly breathe life into their techniques.

Perhaps he should slip a little something into their mailboxes...

He watched patiently how the duo entered the new café, raising a brow to it. He was pretty sure that the blonde was the heir to Allegri famiglia, an ally of the Vongola, but he wasn't too sure about the raven.

Dante and Zen'Ichiro had been legends of their time, both working for the Vongola back in the day. Their weapons of choice had been very inconvenient for mafioso. Zen'Ichiro had been a masterful fencer while Dante had excelled in the usage of spear. And yet they both had died of old age as opposed to losing to someone else in a fight. The duo had actually been first recruits of the infamous Varia based on their sheer success on their silent deaths, Ricardo himself had sought them out and the Sun and the Rain had become the leaders of the independent assassination squad. Rumour had it that the two men had been Vongola Secondo's respective Guardians until his death, but the lack of insanity due to loss of a sky in their records pretty much cancelled that rumour. They would've needed to be secondary Skies to have been able to pull themselves back together and the records clearly state that they were purely rain and sun.

Reborn made a silent note to look into the Tsunayoshi look-alike, there just was something odd about that boy.

"So.. Was there other reasons for you to ask me to accompany you here other than cake? Tino?" Valentino nearly choke to his strawberry shortcake, he still wasn't sure of how to react to the nickname the raven used for him. After a successful unchoking and drinking latte, Valentino coughed a little in order to get his voice going. "Actually I did, I've been looking into potential Guardians for you ever since Shamal told us that you'll need to find them as soon as possible", he put up both of his hands showing eight fingers and with each name he spelled out, he'd put down one of them. "Yamamoto Takeshi, half active rain, Sasagawa Ryohei, active sun, Bovino Lambo, active lightning, all of them are classic skyset type but then we have other flame users who aren't that clear; Arisawa Mitsukuni, Dmitry Romanoff, Ana Stanislav, Xia He Li and Mochida Kensuke". Valentino leaned back on his seat huffing to himself as he crossed his arms. "I wasn't able to find out their flame types, but I sense that they have them and that they're strong. Oh and Haruka's little bodyguard who's called Jéan is another storm with sun flames, but you don't have need for another one as a guardian and I doubt that his sun flames are strong enough to create an actual bond with you", Naoki stated at the blonde with confused look in his eyes.  
He decided to remain silent though and take a sip from his suspiciously small coffee cup. He'd wanted to try it out because it had sounded interesting. Something like esupuresso? Valentino had laughed at his pronunciation several times. The jerk. The Italian stared at the raven's facial espressione after he'd drunk the bitter beverage. Sure, he'd earlier stated that he had a feeling that Naoki would like it, but he could always be wrong. Naoki's face was even and expressionless after he downed the coffee, it's bitterness being bit foreign to him. Bit by bit, his expression shifted. The smaller teen started to relax, a smile breaking onto his face. Huh.. Guess Valentino was right after all.  
"I think... The first three you listed aren't suitable for me, I mean, Haruka, Cain and Yui are far from classic representations of their set, right? So it'd make sense for them all to be like that", Valentino felt like he was missing something here, why was Naoki so sure that the younger Yamamoto, Sasagawa nor Bovino were to be his Guardians? "Oh! How many skies are currently in the town? I'm curious if I could connect with them"

Valentino thought back to his earlier talk with Tetsuya, the Sumiyoshi-Kai leader-to-be knew everything that happened in his town after all.

"There are seven Skies that I know of; Sawada Tsunayoshi, who isn't active yet, Seki Tetsuya, Suzaku Baku, Tomaso "Longchamp" Naito, Tomofuji Nanami, your teacher, broken sky, you and I. Tetsuya most likely knows more who reside in here, but that's all I got", he listed while counting his fingers. Naoki tilted his head in thought as if something was bothering him. "What's a broken sky? And why is Tomaso known as Longchamp?" he finally said after long while of silent bondering. The time seemed to stop at that.  
Valentino felt his heart still for a brief moment. Oh Naoki, why did you have to ask such hard questions? The platinum haired teen took several deep breaths trying to calm himself. This was traumatic information, information that nobody really wanted to acknowledge nor accept.

"You know how... You need to find your set before we can be sure that you'll be alright? Well...it's because of you being active Sky now, which means that you'll need so called anchors to keep you from going completely bonkers. Sky flames while being the symbol of harmony and having harmonisation factor can turn bad so to speak. We're not exactly sure of what happens, but the custom of finding Guardians for mafia Skies started around the time the Cosa Nostra was born, one Famiglia was destroyed by its Don, who was an unstable sky, he'd tried to keep harmony in the whole famiglia and that starved him, it took a huge toll onto his psyche and in his momentary loss of sanity, he eradicated every single person who resided in his mansion. Not a single person was spared. No child, no man nor woman survived. And once he came back to himself, he was horrified by his actions and wrote a message to his allies, warning them of this and then he ran into his father's sword"

Silence fell upon the two, Valentino avoided looking into the eye of his friend. "Lady Tomofuji is a Sky who lost nearly all of her Guardians and as Skies create bonds that are very deep and powerful, their sudden snapping feels like a stab into your heart. It's torture. And as the result, her flames became unbalanced, her mind seeking refugee from fantasies. Only one of her original Guardians remains alive to this day, her only anchor to sanity", Valentino finally looked at Naoki, the purple eyes filled with grief.  
"There aren't many pure skies in this city for a reason Naoki, Lady Tomofuji's unstable flames try to shatter them, she doesn't mean it to happen, but she has no control over them anymore, her own son wasn't safe from this either and thus he had to be sealed. The only Skies whose flames she doesn't attack are the ones that are bonded with the Sumiyoshi-Kai as they recognise them as not threats due to her own fragile bond with the current head, you're an exception for you aren't exactly what one would call a sky set". Naoki nodded slowly, unsure of what he should think of this. Bonds being broken was everyday life, old friendships were lost and new ones forged, so it didn't really make sense to him that someone might go insane because of that. But then again flame bonds weren't regular friendship bonds were they.

Deciding to change the subject, as Valentino seemed to be in such a great pain from talking about the Skies being broken, Naoki spoke. "Can you tell me about your family? Do you have any siblings?" the sudden change of the subject threw the blonde off-guard, his face mirroring total confusion. "I have a cousin who I call Mitsu, he's almost twice my age and works for the Vongola in some higher position, so I don't see him often. He's partially Japanese I believe, and he has a wife and a son. I don't know their names though, he never speaks about them in my presence for some reason and he hasn't visited them for ten years, probably divorced", was his answer to which Naoki nodded. It was sad that the man never visited his son, hopefully the mother-son duo was doing alright.

"Actually, he didn't even invite anyone to his wedding, my father was furious about it, but then again he hasn't been himself since uncle died", makes sense.

A tall Italian man, perhaps in his forties though his ashen hair made him look older, entered the café. After a while of looking around, he walked over to the two, smiling fatherly to Valentino. Valentino greeted the man, who Naoki believed to be his father. "Nao, this is Matteo, my lightning and right hand man", guess he was wrong. Damn. Matteo nodded to the young sky, who greeted him shyly. "I've been his guardian and lifeguard since his birth, Valentino had exceptionally strong flames from the very beginning and as requested by the Don, I took care of his training", "Nice to meet you sir-"  
A scandalised look made its way to the older man's face. A Sky calling a mere Lightning sir? Unheard of! "Please, I am not worthy of such titles, do refer to me as-", "Matteo, leave it, he's Japanese. This is part of his culture as you're his senior and he appears to think of you as my somewhat adoptive father, which", Valentino turned to look at Naoki, who was trying his best to turn invisible, "Isn't far from the truth if I am honest". A sound of not being quite happy left from the throat of Matteo, but he complied, choosing to look at the raven who was seated opposite to his boss. So this was the boy the young Don-to-be considered to be his best friend? Interesting...

"Nao became active only recently, a couple weeks ago, so he doesn't have that good of a control over his flames yet, but he's being taught by someone from the Sumiyoshi-Kai", Matteo nodded, his attention shifting to the small frame of the boy. He raised his brow to the apparent lack of muscle mass, which didn't go unnoticed. Naoki shifted on his seat uncomfortably. "I got out of hospital only a week ago and I'm not allowed to do heavy workout because of having a flame leech in the past, miss Tomofuji is teaching an alternative method for controlling the flames", the boy stuttered, clearly uncomfortable with being stared at.

Valentino shot a glance to his guardian, silently telling him to sit down, to which the man complied. After a while, they were presented with new coffees and slices of cake, Naoki soon starting to poke his own slice feeling suspicious of its yellow being. "Nao is at the moment in search of his own set of Guardians, he has three of them already like I do, but we're not too sure about the set he represents. Tetsuya gave me the image of him being the first Fire set main for several centuries, maybe even longer, which is a complication by its own", "The Archives of Allegri might have information of how they used to train, I'll look into it", "Much appreciated".  
Naoki felt like he was a child listening to the adults talk, but he didn't really have a choice on the matter, he didn't know enough of the subject to really take part in it, so he chose to remain silent. It was no use to talk about things you didn't know about, you'll only make a fool out of yourself that way.

The group of three left the café, Naoki heading towards his home, to which both Cain and Haruka had decided to move into permanently, the latter also half accidentally dragging his childhood friend and self appointed guard to move in with them.

All the while the petite raven walked, passing a group of rather loud teenagers, one of them being silver haired, that had to be dye right, nobody could be born with such hair colour, he missed the confused stare he received from one boy with gravity defying hair and another steady, calculating stare from pair of black orbs.

It's not like he'd be dragged into the insanity that was the Vongola and life of one Sawada Tsunayoshi, right? _Right?_

 ** _Wrong_**.


	7. VII

There had been several attacks towards the students of Namimori's middle school. Many of the victims were somehow related to the criminal organisations.  
Because of this, the heirs that were residing in Namimori were given extra support and protection from their respective Famiglias and clans.  
This was the sight that Naoki walked into when he entered the school building.  
Men in black. Women in black. Trained professionals.  
The seas of hitmen and assassins parted to let him through after interrogating him thoroughly. Entering the classroom, he saw that there were also a lot more people than usual.

He took his seat next to Valentino, who looked very sheepish.  
"Tino... What's going on?" he asked from the blonde, who kept his gaze on his notebook, not wanting to attract more attention than he already had. "Someone is systematically going through Namimori, beating students to near death, so my father decided to send me some.... Bodyguards... The others also were sent some", Naoki nodded slowly, still unsure of how he should feel about all of this. Surprisingly enough, he wasn't scared, even though there was an obvious threat. But he had the feeling that they wouldn't be targets.  
During the after school clubs, Naoki found it to be rather challenging to fit everyone into his house, though it was very spacious. The mafiosi just kept pouring in like sand into a jar with rocks.  
He himself was crammed into the same space as the other "Skies" and "leaders" as Tetsuya had called them. Occasionally, one of the others would give meaningful glares at their own, later on apologising for their insensitive actions as they'd tried to bond with the petite sky.

"Umm... Could.. Could we have some more room..? It's a bit hard to breathe like this", Naoki squeaked silently, afraid of having another fit. It was irrational fear, after all the flame leech was long gone, but he couldn't help but to worry. It was all too recent for him. Tetsuya ruffled his hair affectionately before he gave a glare at the bodyguards, who disappeared like water in Sahara. The mafia knew all too well that they were only borrowing the lands. Or.... Well... Vongola seemed to not know that they weren't really the ones in charge.

Naoki looked down towards the table, there were multiple words written on a piece of paper, a thick opus laid next to it. Valentino had had it brought in by his subordinates as Naoki needed to learn the rules of the flame using criminal organisations. He was supposed to be choosing a name for his group, but he was utterly lost. On top of it all, he felt something tug himself.  
They had gathered different words together for Naoki to choose from, but so far none of the names had caught the petite teen's interest. Naoki was utterly horrible with names.  
Hours passed with him crossing out names until there was none left, somehow this irked Baku to no end. "What was wrong with the suggestions? Huh?!" he growled earning a deadpan from his friends and a tongue click from the Sky of Skies. Naoki looked out of the window, feeling frustrated and angry with himself and his incapability to explain such an easy thing.  
"They just... They just don't feel right, some of them are nearly there, but something is missing, an emotion, a reason", he said before his eyes glanced towards a door. "Haru, there's someone behind the door, could you let her in?" he continued quietly. The cloud got up from their seating, the hem of their black dress flowing along with every movement they made.

After few seconds the genderqueer returned with a girl who obviously wasn't exactly Japanese, haafu perhaps? Naoki looked at her from head to toe, noticing the tiny cuts and bruises, his own eyes hardening with anger while his heart felt sympathy for the child and cried for her. There was no spark of life in her pink eyes, her hair was in horrible condition, clothes hanging on her too big.  
The teen found his voice from somewhere afar, and spoke gently. "Who might you be?" he asked softly and the girl's posture relaxed ever so slightly. "Tennousei Kaname", she mumbled to particularly nobody, gaze descended on the floor, "Thirteen years old". Naoki blinked.  
A middle schooler had sought him out, come to his house, despite of obviously knowing that the said house was nowadays filled with criminals.  
"Um.. I heard... I heard that you helped Mochida-senpai, so I thought", the girl trailed off, avoiding everyone's gaze. Naoki got up from his seating and walked to Kaname. He kept strictly to himself, he wasn't sure if her wounds were still hurting nor if she preferred to be left untouched. He purposely left a big gap between himself and the younger female.  
"Who did this to you, Tennousei?" he asked worriedly and the girl looked away once more. "No one particular".

_Lie_.

Naoki closed his eyes thinking about his choices. Within, a resolution came to life, bleeding its bright orange colour into his eyes. Without opening them, he spoke once again. "There's free room on the second floor, we'll figure out your clothing and other things later. But now, you need to rest", the girl nodded gratefully and started to stumble towards the staircase she'd seen in the hall.  
Tetsuya observed the raven, noting the change in the atmosphere. Naoki turned around and opened his eyes.

" _I want to protect and shield people like her_ ".

Glowing orange eyes stared at the room, summoned by the raw emotion the teen felt, and Tetsuya felt proud of him. The teen had graduated from squeaky toy into a kitten, that was testing his claws. He looked to his side to Valentino. "You got anything to work with this?"  
The platinum blonde leaned back, eyes closed in concentration, he had several words on his mind, but none of them were really that good nor easy for Japanese to pronounce. Then, finally, one word came to his mind.  
"How about... Paravento? It means screen, folding screen or divider? One of the other words that is often used as a translation is either cover or shelter", he said as his mind kept kicking him about something. About it being familiar name. Surely he was just mistaken, right? It was a common word after all.

The group turned to Naoki, who in turn looked around his own people, each of them nodding approvingly.  
"Paravento it is".

The group spent a whole talking more and throwing around suggestions for their insignia, until Haruka took a piece of paper and started to actually draw them down. After a while of going back and forth, the insignia turned out to be a shield with a chaos symbol inside of it while a winged lyra was above.  
For the motto, they ended up with "Et stabit in chao, protegens vos a nocet mundi", "I stand within chaos, shielding you from the harms of the world". Though inside their minds, they all already knew that the true Motto would always be "For family", Per la famiglia.

After all of this, Naoki was exhausted, he wasn't suited for being with people for long time periods, and the more people he'd sense around him, the more tired he became. And yet, the tugging sensation never left him. It was as if someone was calling out to him, something bright, something that was feeling sad. But he couldn't answer the call, not quite yet.

"Next up, the registration of the group, but for that we need to get in touch with the Vindice", the french mafia lady said, making everyone present shudder involuntarily. Naoki looked around the faces that were mixed with horror and displease. "Who is vindise?" he stumbled over the pronunciation causing few younger criminals chuckle. Baku reached his hand for the tea pot that one of his men had just refilled. "Vindice is out version of police, its mission is to make sure that none of the rules are broken and that a new mafia war doesn't break out over something stupid like land owning", he explained as he tipped the pot pouring jasmine tea into his cup, "For example, we can hold Vongola accountable for beating up Kudo - group that is part of our alliance if we so wish".  
Naoki nodded slowly, baffled by the knowledge that such unit existed within the criminal world while Tetsuya took the paper slip they were writing things down. "So, you're Italian styled Mafia family by the name Paravento", he started to read the list down, his pinkish red eyes never leaving the bullet points, "Your agenda is to shield and protect others, you have insignia and motto.... Holidays and traditions will be made up overtime". He placed the paper down and tapped the final row, his brow arched in thought. "Where will be your base of action? We have the Italian map over here, but there doesn't seem to be any free areas on the mainland nor Sicily", he stated carefully, annoyed by this obstacle. The small raven looked at the chart, his eyes fixated on certain city with its own harbour. "Who's in charge of Syracuse?", he asked after trying to make sense of the old map for a while.

"Costello", Valentino said shortly, remembering the leader of that province from the meetings his father had. As the leader of Catania's mafia syndicate, the Allegri Famiglia was one to often host balls and dinner parties in their manors to keep an eye on their allies. He never really liked the leader of Syracuse's mafiosi, there was something fishy in him. Naoki's eyes flickered purple for a second before turning to orange. "We'll take over that province. Costello shouldn't do whatever it's up to. Maybe we can get Vindice's blessing for it", Tetsuya blinked at this statement, it sounded as if Naoki knew what exactly was wrong with the Costello Famiglia. Or was this one of his forebodings that he was quickly making name for himself with?  
Tetsuya had soon learned that the small teenager was near natural when it came to pistols, or his mother had trained him a little already. Added with his odd sense, it made his friend a threat for any of the lower quality mafioso he came across but it wasn't quite enough for him yet. If Naoki was to become cosa nostra, he might as well become the deadliest one all together. So Tetsuya was scouting several old timers to teach the boy their masteries in weaponry. This had apparently inspired Naoki's Guardians to learn as many weapons as possible. He'd also caught Naoki making notes into a small book, that looked pretty harmless.

Well... It was harmless until you realised that he was writing down some odd rules and the first ones had triple meanings:

**Rule number 1;** _Never let suspects stay together / Never put all of your eggs into one basket / Never leave two bunnies unwatched_.  
 **Rule number 2;** _Never screw over your partner / Never lie to your superior / Don't leave your pal hanging_.  
 **Rule number 3;** _Always wear gloves at the game_.  
 **Rule number 4;** _Double check_.  
 **Rule number 5;** _Never be unreachable_.  
 **Rule number 6;** _Best way to keep secret? Tell no-one. Second best? Tell one you trust. There is no third best_.

So far, there were fifty rules, and they were terrifyingly good ones. And would someone get a hold of his little book, it'd seem like something a police officer would have rather than a mafioso. It was the perfect deception. Nanami had stated that the boy made her feel proud, which alone was a miracle.

As the group was having yet another takeout meal from Takesushi (brought to them by older Yamamoto himself), the earlier mentioned Vindice decided to make their appearance. This sudden apparition of several cloaked figures resulted in the near death experience via choking to third of the group while those who had seen this before merely shuddered and paled ever so slightly.

Curiously, Naoki stared at the beings his head tilted and completed file in his hands, as the leader of the lot spoke.

"Rokudo Mukuro has been defeated by Vongola Decimo and has been brought to justice. No mafioso will be in direct danger by him anymore", the being said voice cold and emotionless. Naoki reached his hand and tugged the robes, giving Suri Beaulieu near heart attack. Didn't this boy have any sense of self defense? No instinct that told him very loudly not to pull shit like this? No? Figures.  
The hooded mummy turned to him, eyeing him with possible confusion. Naoki held up the form, also raising onto his toes as he was just way too short to actually reach the floating being. "Um, sir, I'd like to register a newly formed group into the crime syndicate register, under the mafia's cosa nostra section, letter P", the raven said as he tried his best to not fall over while maintaining the tip toe ballet form, pointe if you may. Valentino blinked, his eyes meeting with Suri's, he hadn't known that Naoki knew ballet. And from the looks of it, she hadn't either. Well... That'd create some interesting fights, he was sure, after all... Ballet was a form of martial art, but not many realised this as the female dancers were purposely forced to become a lot weaker and fragile than their male counterparts.  
Mummified hand took the paper slip and glanced over it, silently checking each and every point. Finally, he looked at Naoki, who was still standing on pointe, without the necessary shoes, also known as demi-pointes. It did something similar to a slow blink, as it realised what the petite teen was doing in order for him to be seen better. "Syracuse? Are you sure about taking over a full region so soon?" he finally asked, to which Naoki answered with a nod.

"Not exactly right away, I first need to learn how mafia works, but at the same time I don't think that it's safe to allow Costello to keep the power in their hands. Maybe.. Vindice could hold onto the area for me until I'm ready?"

Another slow blink.  
And silence.  
A small eternity passed.  
People present were holding their breaths.  
Tetsuya felt the need to take Naoki away from his most likely painful position and slap him couple times.  
The Vindice officer looked between Naoki and the paper.  
" _Deal_ "  
.....and vanished into thin air.

Naoki slowly descends from pointe to standing normally and from there he falls onto his knees, gasping for breath, obviously feeling relieved. They look how the now officially don turns towards them, with a shaken look on his face and smiles.

And passes out from the petrifying fear he'd felt just seconds ago.

On the opposite side of the road to the Sawada residence, a young teen, by the age of 14, feels a sudden presence behind him. The brown haired and black eyed boy doesn't turn around despite of the radiating heat being directly behind him. Somehow, he feels like he's safe despite of knowing instinctively that there's fire right behind him.  
"Coal?" the presence asks, its voice drifting into his ears. The boy doesn't know what it means, but he feels like the name is reserved to him, speaking to some part of him. And he answers. "Fire?" it feels right to use the word, despite of not knowing what it really means nor what is it related to. It's just right. The presence seems pleased, its being turning warmer. "Ash and Inferno are already here with Smoke, I'm still looking for Glow, Spark and Heat", he knows these names, but he can't connect them, "Will you help me? My Coal?" with those words something seems to lock into place.  
But he doesn't manage to answer, the being is already gone. Only the lingering warmth and sense of belonging remain. He turns to his computer and start to look up information, any information, to explain what he just experienced. Hours go by and he's still searching. It doesn't matter if he has to hack his way into the unknown, he'll do it.

His older brother looks at him with soft eyes, his brother whose job he doesn't know, but who is taking care of him in place of their deceased parents. The male looks away from the door, sending a message forward, that eventually ends up with one tiny Hitman himself.

The hitman stared at the message with unreadable expression. _There was another sky in the town_? Who was it? The Tomaso? Dino? _Unknown sky_? He needed to get to the bottom of this and fast incase his student was in big trouble. It didn't really help that each night he was having odd visions and dreams of a black haired Vongola Primo that was apparently fighting against his curse. It was such an odd thing to dream of.

The fake infant pulled out another phone and started to type....


	8. VIII

"The Varia is coming. We must to go either underground or offer them housing in our residences", Tetsuya felt his brow twitch at this notion from his father. There you had Vongola again, strutting around the place as if they owned it. And that made the heir's blood boil. Whenever there was Vongola nearby, it meant that each and every criminal connected to Sumiyoshi-Kai had to wear special rings that made it impossible to find them based on their flames, they'd appear as everyday citizens. However....

"What should we do about Oda? He is technically a mafia now, but he is still civilian born, which might get the interest of the Vongola on him", the teen asked stiffly, not allowing his worry to seep into his own voice. The Seki senior raised an eyebrow at this, fully knowing that his son had made a friend of a civilian born sky. "And why do you deem this Oda to be of importance?" he answered with an indifferent voice, which was sure to annoy the hell out of Tetsu.

Tetsuya looked into the eye of his old man, his mouth forming a thin line. Determination shining through from his being.  
"He is one to wield a forgotten flame type, the leading flame of the Fire set."

Naoki stared at the group in front of him with wide eyes. They looked... Very dangerous. He hastily turned back to his grocery shopping and wondering what to do for dinner that night.  
His shopping experience was brought to an end by two rather muscular arms that were wrapped around him while loud squealing was heard. "I can't believe that we found the Decimo wannabe so quicklyyyy and he's so cuuuute!", a femininely speaking voice cooed to him while a finger with rather impressive nail work kept poking his cheek. A very much Tetsuya looking man stepped forward causing the small raven to blink in confusion. He hadn't known that the yakuza heir had a brother.  
"Hand over the rings, scum", the dark skinned and red eyed male rumbled and Naoki blinked again. Then it dawned on him.

"Um... I'm sorry but.. You may have a wrong person. There's apparently a middle schooler who looks just like me but has brown hair and amber eyes", he managed to breath out from behind the arms. The now clearly a mafia went silent as they started to look at the 17 - year old more carefully, and indeed, the kid did look different from their target. "U-Umm... I... I could offer you a lunch or something as a pay back for the inconvenience I caused", the tenor trailed away uncertainly as he felt uncomfortable being under the microscope like this.  
"Your name scum", Naoki blinked as he looked up into the carmine red eyes of the group's obvious leader, was he being asked a question or was he being interrogated, he had no idea. "Oda Naoki", he said as he felt the arms around him slowly loosen. The tall and rough looking teen(?) stared right back at him before turning away with a huff.  
"Did I... Clear some sort of test just now..?" Naoki thought to himself, readying himself to resume to his food purchasing once again. From the corner of his eye, he could see how the group left the convenience store and sighed from relief.

Valentino stared in growing horror the room he was about to step in.

There, right in middle of the living room of his friend Naoki, was Varia resting on the sofas as if they owned the place. He turned to his friend, who was staring at them in disbelief. He hadn't expected them to find their way into his house. House he'd locked before leaving. Hands full of groceries, he spoke.  
"I don't know how or when you got inside, and I'm too concerned to ask, but I am not one to throw people out, gentlemen", he was a little annoyed, which was understandable. His house had been taken over by six foreign people and a huge robot after all. The teen walked into the kitchen, to where his best friend was about to follow, but was stopped by the voice of the Varia leader.

"Allegri trash. What are you doing here", Valentino sighed, succumbing to his fate, and turned his attention to the man. "I was sent here to finish my schooling on a safe area owned by an ally, Xanxus Vongola", he said swiftly, purple eyes flickering at the kitchen impatiently. He really wanted to make a grand escape to the next room. "And the trash?" trash? What tra- Ohhh, he was talking about Naoki.  
"Nao is a friend of mine, I met him about three months ago when he moved here from Osaka", he explained with patience of a Saint and faked calm while inwardly he was screaming in terror. He had grown up hearing stories of the feared and efficient assassination squad of Vongola, and seeing them live was even more horrifying than anything else he could've ever imagined. "He's a sky", shit. "Recently activated, someone had implanted a nasty flameleech on him in hopes of killing him before activation. He's now learning how to work in our world", a warning tone slipped into the blonde's voice, which prompted an eyebrow raise by the blonde captain, Superbi Squalo.

"He doesn't want to join any existing family and he's a secondary cloud so.... He's more interested in going his own way", "Does this trash have a name for his people?", "Paravento"

Xanxus snorted, it was such a ridiculous and naive sounding name, something a civilian would be choosing. His attention was taken by a figure slipping into the room with a tray of drinks.

Naoki balanced the tray carefully, he'd filled it with cups and a teapot filled with green tea. There was also a small bowls of candies and sugar and a small glass pot of milk. The petite male walked towards the sofa, his objective being to place the tray onto the coffee table. Valentino turned to him, "Please, let me help you with that", but he was denied by the raven, who stubbornly made it through. He then proceeded to sit down on an armchair, opposite of Xanxus, who was laying on the sofa.  
"I don't think that I caught your names", he said carefully, not wanting to be impolite to his forceful guests. Xanxus sat up straight. "Xanxus, boss of Varia. Son of Vongola Nono", Valentino looked how a look crossed over Naoki's face, he'd grown to know that expression. It was the expression of someone who had been lied to and who knew it. "How about you try that again mister", he said allowing his flames to surface. Valentino's reactions had already told him that they wouldn't take him seriously if he didn't show his guts. Squalo flinched visibly while Xanxus kept staring at the smaller teen with a face of a man who was about to commit a murder. Xanxus grit his teeth. "Xanxus Vongola, _adopted_ son of Vongola Nono", Naoki relaxed at this and smiled at the older teen. "Thank you", he said as he felt warmth flow through him as his flames returned to his core. Xanxus stared at him for a while before turning to Valentino, fury in his eyes and body stiff, ready to strike.

"Explain."

Valentino sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, he had expected this to happen.

"We don't know how or why, but Naoki seems to have a similar sense to Vongola Hyper Intuition, despite of his family never crossing with them nor him sharing zero DNA with them. It could be a natural mutation", he said as Naoki poured himself a cup of tea. They had had the health professionals of Sumiyoshi-Kai track down the boy's inheritance, but there had been mostly Japanese roots and one occasion of a foreigner marrying into the family in the past. And that person had zero ties to Vongola of any kind. The platinum blonde sat down too and popped one of the sweets into his mouth, eagerly waiting for Varia's reaction.

"Do you parents appear to have this similar ability?" Squalo asked leaning closer to take one of the cups. Naoki shook his head. "Not the same way as I do. Father has a sense for when he's danger, but other than that, nothing", he took a sip of the tea, "I suspect that it was something that I developed as a response to the flame leech and what led to it". The rain nodded, it made sense as the leech had apparently turned the teen also active. "So, this attack against your person unlocked your sky flames and cloud flames and gave you this ability", "Oh, I am not a sky".  
The Varia turned to stare at the teen who looked at them calmly. Too calmly. "I am a Fire, not Sky, though I am told that they are fundamentally the same", small ravennette specified earning a slow nod from them. "Naoki's been training his flames and it turned out that he has the ability to create reflections of himself to communicate with other people, which was an ability used commonly by the Fire set in the past", Valentino blurted out receiving a side glance from his friend. He might've said too much.

The tea/lunch passed in an awkward silence, only disturbed by the sound of porcelain clinking against porcelain. Naoki idly wondered what the deal of this group was, sure, they belonged to Vongola, but their position was unclear. And yet... He didn't dare to ask.

His intuition warning him, he lifted his hand to catch a knife that was flung at him, but it still managed to graze his fingers, cutting them slightly. He lifted his gaze to meet the one who'd thrown it and he felt a chill. This person, whose eyes were concealed behind his front hair, was not stable personality. Not at all. And it concerned the teen to great extent. He didn't know what exactly it was that had brought him to such a horrifying conclusion, all he knew that he needed to put distance between himself and the taller blonde.

His eyes zoned onto the tiara on the person's head and a single thought came to his head, an instinctive thing to say.  
"Your highness is visiting another nation, ruled by another royal family, attacking citizens of this country would count as an act of terrorism which could end up with consequences you aren't ready to pay yet, one of them being prohibited to visit Japan or using any of the products that originate from this country. Therefore I advice you not to throw around knives in the broad daylight and towards those who the law still recognises as civilians"  
The grin that had been decorating the blonde cheshire cat was wiped instantly and his hand went up to his crown, to have a feel of it. Or to change its position ever so slightly. But he didn't say anything, no other reaction aside from silence and confused laugh. Though he might've been saying four repeatedly too, go figure.  
The rest of the group however was staring at him with critical eye, trying to figure out something. The robot wasn't staring at him though, and thank goodness for that. Oh and the guy with very tall black hair was poking the sweets with his finger for some reason.

Valentino on the other hand? He was clutching his chest as if he'd just had a heart attack. "Nao! Don't ever do that ever again! Just dodge the next time!", "But that's what he wanted me to do".  
Purple eyes stared into the light amber as Naoki clearly didn't see Valentino's point regarding the dangers that were catching knives that could've been poisoned. "He wouldn't use poison, he'd want to shred me to pieces", wait what. Did he. Did he just. "Your face is like an open book Tino also I can't explain how I know, I just know"  
Valentino smacked Nao's head lightly, his ears burning up from shame that he'd thought for a second that his friend was a psychic. But could you blame him for it? The smaller teen was always acting aloofly, saying things with bold attitude, stating things without caring how it was received. His greatest character flaw.

And yet he'd been _rarely_ wrong.

"I wanted to avoid making any repairs onto my walls", Naoki said as he rubbed the back of his head in pain, "I inherited this house from grandpa, I don't intend to make any changes this soon". Oh. Okay that made more sense. Valentino mumbled a half hearted apology which was equally accepted, both having known that Valentino had never been serious about his slap.

Xanxus stared at this exchange curiously as it seemed almost as if the duo had known one another since birth. Naoki took out his phone and started to type in a way that immediately took Xanxus' attention; the phone was resting on top of the smaller teen's right pinky, taking extra support from his left middle finger and the typing was done with both his right thumb and left index finger. It was a peculiar way of typing, but seemed to work for the slender handed male as he was typing on a furious speed.  
"Tino...any idea who someone called L27 or... Sunflower emoji...? Might be? I've been recently receiving texts from these people, from different numbers and emails", Valentino leant over Naoki's shoulder to read. Most of the messages seemed to be puns, jokes and memes, which was odd. "Does your sense pick up anything?", "I'm not sure of L27, but somehow I think that I should call the latter Casarien or Rien- he seems familiar though I don't personally know anyone who communicates like this", "Try it then? And see how it goes?"

In the math class, dark blue eyes widened in disbelief and sudden wave of uncertainty. He stared at the screen of his hidden phone that neatly spelled out a name. A name he felt connected to and had actually used at one point. He'd been sending messages for weeks to this one number his brother had found and claimed to be a bot, and it had seemed like that until now.  
Previously, the responses had been either "pardon", "what" or no response at all and now there was a name he knew no one should know.

_**»** Peculiar way of talking you have there, Casarien._

How should he be answering to this? He tapped the phone with his index finger, onto the button A repeatedly. But didn't send it in. He soon erased the six rows of what one could only see as mindless yelling and replaced it with a proper answer.

_**«** How do you know that name? Have we talked before?_

He held his breath, how would this not actually a bot answer?

_**»** It just felt like it'd fit you? Also I should be asking you that since you somehow have my number and have been sending me messages for a good while._

Urk. The guy was writing in keigo, he must've been super annoyed in him.

_**«** Ahahahaha! Funny you'd say that!_   
_**«** I uhh_

Shit. What was he going to say? Tell some stranger that he'd thought that he was a damn bot?

_**«** Found it?_   
_**»** Lie._

  
Oh shit.

_**«** No it's not!_   
_**»** Yes it is. Don't try to lie to me Rien, I know whenever someone is lying to me._   
_**«** How do you know that I'm not telling the truth?_   
_**»** Well first of all, you added a question mark at the end of your answer, meaning that you weren't sure of the answer, secondly a feeling, thirdly, you just basically admitted it._

Dammit. This guy was good.

_**»** Anyways, what makes you suddenly start messaging to a probably older person by several years?_   
_**«** HAH! I'm probably the older one!_   
_**»** 17_

  
Quick! Come up with a number!

  
_**«** 22_   
_**»** Nice try._

SHIT

_**»** I won't pry though, you made it clear that you don't want to give out your real information._

Oh?

_**»** I only want to know how you were able to find this number, it's supposed to be an encrypted number._

Ohh..  
Well damn.

**_«_ ** _My brother gave it to me and said that I should spam memes to it_

The middle schooler typed in, avoiding the fact that he had been tricked by his brother to think that he was talking to a bot.

_**«** But I don't think that he has given the number to anyone else_

Naoki stared at the messages, trying to figure out how and why someone would do such thing. He came to the conclusion that he was talking to the NEET younger brother, whose big brother was trying to get him go out more and just happened to decide that he would be it. The brother might've been another high schooler, who had gotten an access to his number through the school papers. Maybe he'd given other phone numbers to the NEET too?

He put the phone down carefully, satisfied with the amount of information he'd obtained.

Xanxus, who had been observing the teen and his reactions, kept a neutral face throughout everything. He didn't even allow his eyes to widen in wonder when the reflections appeared behind the two younger teens. As a Vongola, he'd seen his fair share of the Vongolian ghosts and spirits, but he hadn't taken into the account the possibility of other families having something similar to it.  
Behind Naoki had stood one of the legends of the mafia's golden days, a freelance hitman who'd been simply known as Kaze. The spirit of the Hitman bared a disturbingly close resemblance to the teen and to his shock, to Vongola Primo. The other reflection on the other hand looked very similar to the Cavallone Decimo, but when looking at the teen whom he was standing behind of, Xanxus could also tell that the ghost was like looking into the future. His mind went immediately into the files he'd redd about Vongola and its allies, his senses telling him that he was seeing the memory of Allegri Primo.   
Staring at the duo, he shuddered inwardly.

It all matched all too well. The flames, their strengths, the personalities, the looks.  
He was looking at the rebirth of Giustizia and Credo, Kaze and Vento. One of the best hitmen of their own time. He kept observing the two with critical eye, their reactions and communication styles.

_Both of them seemed to be asking for forgiveness from someone. Their DNA remembered who they had been even if their minds didn't._

And that was scary thought.


	9. IX

Naoki came down to the kitchen, as he'd been woken up by rather concerning sounds. He wouldn't have been surprised to find his newest roomie, Kaname, attempting to self teach herself to cook again nor Cain trying to install some wacky defense system into the fridge. Heavens, he wouldn't have been surprised to find Haruka raiding his kitchen empty of edibles either taken in the fact that he was very much not appreciating his father's attitudes. Finding his Smoke Guardian Yui from there wouldn't have been that odd either, she loved to appear and disappear as she pleased, somehow managing to come into the house despite the doors and windows being firmly locked. But no.

Instead, he found the very same group that had broken into his house, sitting around the table while the flamboyant looking guy with rather colourful attire appeared to be assaulting something that looked like eggs and bacon.

If you squinted enough that was.

Naoki felt his stomach churn, he'd never been a fan of bacon or other pork based products. Something in them just made him feel sick in the stomach. Not to mention that the overall look of the thing was simply so unappetising that he chose to stick only to a cup of coffee. He sat down with the drink, an empty lunch box next to him and left overs from the previous evening in front of the box.

Xanxus looked up from his morning caffè latte and fette biscottate, his Red eyes following how the petite teenager filled the flower patterned box with exact precision, amber orbs concentrated fully on the mission, almost without blinking at all. Xanxus them looked at the fluffy haired boy's breakfast and frowned, he was sure that the boy was so small because of not eating properly. Two more boxes were filled, one light blue with strong purple hearts and one very classic looking brown that had yellow flowers on the right corner of the lid.

"Haruka usually forgets their lunch and Kaname is hopeless with cooking, so I need to make sure that they get to eat something during the day", the younger sky explained as matter of factly without lifting his head, he'd felt the question before it had been voiced. Xanxus grunted as an answer, at least the trash took good care of his own, he could respect that.  
As the adult in teenager's body kept staring, he noticed that each of the lunches were slightly different; the pink box had an extra layer which had a tiny slice of cake on it, the one with hearts had a sweets compartment which held a note "Only after finishing" while the final one was very plain in looks, but it had extra meat in it. Naoki noticed the stare and flushed red from embarrassment. "I like meat", he mumbled shyly and cast his eyes onto the table as if ashamed of admitting it, "Also the doctor told me that I need to eat more iron so I figured..."

Without a word, Xanxus snatched one of the breads from Squalo and tossed it over to the teen who carried the face of his target with the loud "VOOOIIII" accompanying it's flight. Naoki caught the bread, staring at it wordlessly before looking up at the Varia that had mostly frozen in place. As confusion took over his being, Naoki tilted his head to the right like a child, earning a scoff from the bloodthirsty Varia leader.  
"Eating more something won't do much help unless you up the consumption of everything else too", the red eyed assassin said as he looked away. But this didn't ease up Naoki's confusion. "Trash, you need to not skip meals and eat more so you can grow and develop better. Your training is only at the beginning and soon you'll need to start going for the strength". It was a little known fact that Xanxus was very passionate about food and health, he might've been strict and violent, but he too had a way of showing his people affection. And if it was just by him making sure that nobody would go hungry and had actually good food to eat, so be it.

Naoki silently came to the conclusion that it was a remain from the older teen's time as an orphan, he'd heard stories of orphanages not providing enough food for the children they sheltered. Had he known the truth, the boy might've combusted with sheer rage, sadness and sympathy for the older one.  
Two sets of footsteps alerted the group of people approaching them, but the assassins kept their composure and refrained from attacking. There just was something in the house that made them want to avoid any destruction that was usual for them.

Or...well... Other than the obviously dead breakfast.

First one to arrive was Haruka, who bursted into the kitchen wearing a girl's uniform this time around chirping happily about being excited of the day. Naoki smiled at her offering the pink lunchbox, which the genderqueer accepted happily.  
Kaname followed soon after, rubbing her left arm anxiously. Naoki blinked and took in her appearance before he got up. "Stairs?" a confirming nod came from the weak looking girl and the teen sighed. "I'll make sure to move you into a room in downstairs. You didn't get hurt badly did you?", "No, Nao-nii"  
A frown crossed the raven's face signalling that he was aware of the girl lying to him, but he let it be for now. He offered the blue-purple lunchbox to the girl, who seemed surprised. "I asked around, you apparently never have lunch with you at school so I figured that I'd make sure you'd have some from now on", "...nk you".  
As Kaname left the house, her school starting earlier than the high schoolers' that day, Haruka turned to Naoki with a serious look in their eye. "Nao, mind if I stay with you for few days?" the ashe blonde asked, voice urgent and stressed, to which Naoki paid immediate attention. "What happened?"

Haruka took a deep breath and started to explain. Apparently his father had had enough of his crossdressing habits and had decided to call in a psychiatrist to "fix" Haruka. It was also apparent that the old man was planning on moving the inheritance to the teen as soon as possible, which would make it so that Haruka wouldn't have any freedom in the future.  
"His health has been decreasing rapidly for the past month so he's starting to get more and more frantic each passing day", the blue eyed teen said as they flopped in between Mammon and Naoki, covering their face into their hands, "It's always been bad, but now it's turning even worse, I can't take this much longer Nao, I just can't! It's so stressful! It hurts!"  
Naoki looked at the table silently, trying to figure out a good way to solve this problem. He wasn't yet that good at leading and he was horrible with numbers. He looked up towards the assassins, a single thought forming in his head.

Amber met crimson in a steady stare and the new Don blinked. "Xanxus, does your group happen to have exceptionally good monetary controller, who we could hire for the time being? Someone who preferably could impersonate as Haru and take care of the business until he's ready?"  
Haruka took a sharp breath and looked at the assassin group as if they'd seen the others in the room for the first time, with a pleading look, they stared at the person Naoki had just addressed. "Tenoh corporation, I can give you 5% of the income as a payment and 2% share", the blonde said, gaze glossing over them.  
Xanxus looked at Haruka and then at Naoki before he bursted out laughing, seeing the teens put trust in him and his group like this was funny and refreshing. "Sure why not! Mammon, take the mission!" he roared as the teens bowed to him thankfully. Oh how he hoped that this wouldn't change once the group knew more about him and his group.  
In the end, Naoki cooked breakfast with Lussuria, teaching him the dos and don'ts of making eggs and bacon, the flamboyant assassin promising to purchase him new pans for the ones he'd destroyed out of frustration. Who knew that you weren't supposed to knee eggs if they didn't cook fast enough? Not Lussuria, that was for sure.

On his way out, Naoki stopped and looked at the group one more time. "Hey uhh.. For the future... Could you... Make me a small chart with your names and pronouns? I don't want to be rude and I realised that I never caught all of your names", he said shyly to them. Xanxus rolled his eyes, but didn't say that he wouldn't do it. Naoki and his "cloud" guardian left the building to take part in their respective classes. Squalo wasn't sure what he was supposed to make of this situation, this Naoki seemed to have some sort of special ability to be able to get along with most people, even get them to like him within very short time period. He had never seen Xanxus react like this to someone who wasn't Vongola, let alone to another sky, so fast. If he didn't know better, if he didn't feel it, he might've even thought that the two skies had just bonded. But that was impossible! Not a single sky could bond together!

Could they?

On their way to the school, Haruka and Naoki talked about the guests who were staying at Naoki's house, especially the leader of the lot. "So.. What you're suggesting is that the Xanxus fellow might be related to Tetsuya? Why is that, Nao?" Haruka asked her brows furrowing in confusion. Naoki shrugged. "It's just a feeling I have Haru, and he communicates the same way as Tetsu does", "Nah, Tetsuya is clearly softer than Xanxus", "Different upbringings?", "You got me there"  
The duo got into the classroom, computer science, and waited for a while for it to start. To their confusement, it wasn't their usual teacher who walked into the room, but around 22 - year old man with tanned skin and grey eyes. The man smiled brightly and Naoki had suddenly a bad feeling of all of this.  
"Hello, I am Mizushima Kousuke, and I am here to do my internship! I am 22 years old computer science teacher in training, nice to meet you~!"  
Naoki's mind screamed that the guy was obviously trying to pull a wool over their eyes, but he said nothing. As long as the man would actually teach them, it didn't matter. Also he better not have completely eradicated the actual teacher, he might've been next to useless, but at least you could ask him some nice cooking tips. Haruka noticed the expression her friend was making and lifter her hand.

"Excuse me! What happened to Mr Kojima?", her question made the smile on Kousuke's face widen a little bit too much, while the rest of his face seemed to be disowning it. "Mr Kojima is currently sick, but he'll return once he's better~". A collective shudder went through the classroom.  
Kousuke hadn't really wanted to take this job to himself, but Reborn really left him with no choice. The tiny hitman had seen the target meet the Varia, which had peaked his interest even more. And so Oda Naoki had become a person of interest to Vongola. Even more after his apparent long distance bonding with Kousuke's younger brother.  
Kou had gone through hours upon hours of him hacking into the government files, using his connections within, to dig up any piece of information he could come across.  
And he'd presented his findings to the deadliest man alive and yet... It hadn't been enough.

» _Naoki Oda is currently 18 year old boy, born in March 15th, son of the police chief Miaka Sakurai and Yoharu Oda. His grandfather Sousuke Oda was a well respected citizen, who was known for his ability to negotiate with the local yakuza groups and bring them to their current state of peace and tolerance. He has no other ties to the criminal activity through his father's side of the family._

_However, from his mother's side we can find records of one Renji "Ren" Sakurai, the sun arcobaleno during the 1860s and his marriage registry with Alessandra Sinclair, with the disappearance of Renji, Alessandra was left with their son, whom she raised together with her parents-in-law, leaving the criminal world entirely behind. Her late husband was rumoured to having been the Fire set equalvalent of Sky flame, but using primarily his secondary flames known as Coal which are correlated with Sun flames. He was also called the weakest arcobaleno of his time, simply due to the Coal not having the same abilities as Sun flames and thus being mistaken as inverted/weak sun flames. His primary use of his flames has been noted to having been melting items and feeding his flames to boost the abilities of others. Renji himself considered himself to be a pacifist and refrained from shedding blood._

_As for Naoki's own ties to the criminal organisations, they start as early as at the age of three when he befriended the young heir of Yukimura group, only to become the target of an attempted murder at the age of 15 by his at the time girlfriend for refusing to join the group. His current alliances with mafia and its kind seem to be tied to the Yakuza of Namimori and the heir's of Allegri and Beaulieu famiglias._

_His abilities are unknown and according to the Namimori hospital records he has recently had a surgery where they cut out a lump that was filled with poison. The poison had gone between the heart and the lungs, the muscle tissue forming a protective case around it which had kept him alive after the poison attempt by the Yukimura Group three years ago.«_

Kousuke sourly thought back to the thick file he'd dropped onto the table in front of the arcobaleno. He'd found out everything there had been to the teen. His birthday, likes, dislikes, dental card, relationships, EVERYTHING, and yet here he was, teaching his profession to group of high schoolers as a way of getting closer to the target.  
As he stepped into the classroom, he felt a shift in the atmosphere, it was as if someone had taken the feeling of a pleasant sunny day when you could just lay in the grass without a care of the world and put it into a single room where you could experience it over and over again. Taken back by this, Kousuke tried to find its source, but no avail, there was no clear indicator of who was radiating such feeling.  
Looking around the classroom, the hacker screeched mentally, he recognised at least four mafiosi and two of them were powerful skies. All of them were huddled around Naoki as if trying to protect the boy from something.

Oh bother, this was going to be one hell of a day for him wasn't it.

Naoki couldn't help but think that the fake teacher was somehow familiar. He could vaguely sense an odd mix of flames coming from him. It was as if someone had taken Naoki's coal and flipped the flames around. But the coal flame was too sweet. It was... It was too energetic and hyper as opposed to the collected yet occasionally silly coal. Another set?  
Whatever it was, neither Valentino nor Baku were having it and so weren't Haruka, Yui and one of Tino's. And so Naoki found himself to be surrounded by five people each and every one of them glaring daggers at the substitute teacher.

Once the class was over, HT kept an emergency meeting, where once again the small don was huddled by the others, one of them being Tetsuya. "I can't believe that you are housing Varia", the fourth year said through gritted teeth. Naoki hummed and took a bite of strawberry shortcake. "It was either that or watching them tear up the whole town Tetsu", the raven stated while he felt that Suri was ruffling his hair once again. The French lady had come to the conclusion that she should treat Naoki as her brother, something that he wasn't too sure about himself. He preferred being called a friend other than family. Family brought too many obligations to him, one of them being regular meetings without potentially having time for self.

"Also they're not so bad, just little unfamiliar with being around civilians. I had to teach Lussuria how to make eggs and bacon this morning. He trashed my pans while trying himself", the group collectively sweat dropped at this notion. Sometimes Naoki's acceptance of other people was astonishing to the level where someone could call him naive.  
Suddenly Naoki looked up from his cake, eyes narrow as if something unpleasant was coming to his way. He looked at Valentino. "Tino... I don't think that Tasuki is what he seems to be", he said with a low voice, "Have people watch him without being caught". The door opened and the lightning by the name Tasuki Suzuki walked in. And the second the handle turned, Naoki was as if nothing had happened, enjoying the cake whole heartedly.  
Valentino blinked, somehow he felt like he'd had this conversation before. An uncomfortable weight made its way into his stomach as he had few pictures flash in his mind. They seemed to be from the future as both Naoki and he seemed older and the tech was a lot more advanced. And in these moments he could see Tasuki or someone who resembled him greatly looking at them with unkind eyes, the final image showing the Tasuki lookalike holding a spear, ready to strike him down.

Valentino took a deep breath, he had no idea what had just happened, but he wasn't about to let it happen.

"So, about the situation you have currently in your house", "They are here to test Decimo", "Is the new teacher connected to them?", "No. He's having his orders from somewhere else. Also I think that he's what you call a lighting with Sun flames. I felt it", "You sent yours to scope him"  
Naoki looked down embarrassed to having been caught so easily, he needed to train his flames more. "There was something that felt familiar to me, so I thought at first that he'd been one of my Guardians, but it turned out that he wasn't", he explained making Baku raise his brows.  
"I managed to bond with someone, a Coal flame, through flame projection, but I couldn't see his face. All I know is that he's good with computers and likes math. He also has trophies on both karate and judo, tidy person. Oh and he likes sunflowers"

Baku and Tetsuya looked at one another, in the whole town was only one person who matched that explanation as far as they knew. But it couldn't be him, could he?

In the classroom of 2-A in Namichuu, one teen with dark complexion sneezed audibly. He adjusted his glasses and looked out of the window to the baseball field where the B class was having their P.E. today and bit his lower lip nervously. He had a feeling that his mysterious new friend was talking about him.


	10. X

Naoki hated loud noises more than anything. Mainly because he was scared of loud noises more than anything.

So when he woke up to the sounds of shouting, the fluffy haired teen was awake in an instant, ready to throw down anyone who even dared to burst through the doors. But nothing came up. Yet he heard the screams. Amber eyes descended to his table, where his phone was resting on. The sound came on once again. Irritated and confused as to why his phone was making such noise, Naoki flipped it open. The new smart phones had started to come on the market just recently, but but the teen hadn't yet bought one to himself.

They were supposed to be more secure and faster than the flip phones.

_**»** Why is it that whenever I try western food, I get diarrhea?_

Naoki's brows furrowed in confusion, who was this person? The number slot showed only the letter L. Was this the hacker from earlier?

_**«** Um.. Because you don't get enough fibre...? Or because the food has something you are allergic to?_   
_**»** K_

Naoki looked at the time, his tired eyes widening in disbelief. It was 3 am. Some jokester, probably drunkard, was sending him messages at 3 am! He carefully put the phone down after putting the volume on zero.  
His head was about to hit the pillow when his phone left out rather embarrassing sound making the poor teen snap entirely out of his sleepy state.

_**»** What does human meat taste like?_

What. How was he supposed to- no. What. Ew.

Tired and annoyed out of his mind Naoki walked downstairs where he came across rather roughened up assassins. The phone made another sound. Getting the attention of the Varia.  
The tired young Don looked Xanxus dead in the eye. "I won't ask about your activities and you don't ask about a hacker changing my ringtone."  
With this the boy turned towards the fish tank that was void of any life other than the rather colourful spectate that was courtesy of Haruka and Lussuria. With a plumb, the phone fell into the fish tank where it remained giving out its notifications until the light died out. Naoki stared at the phone in dark sense of pleasure and headed to the kitchen, followed after by the Varia, notably missing Lussuria. The teen raised a brow at this change but didn't question it. His quests had their own rules and he had his own. He had no right to question them.  
Naoki made himself a cup of coffee, feeling a hand ruffling his hair while the silence that was the Varia became louder. He looked up at Xanxus, who still reminded him of Tetsuya too much to being a coincidence, who was there just staring back at him.

"You're up very early." was this... Concern? Worry? Naoki blinked. "My sleeping schedule has always been a bit odd. My flame control teacher is taking an advantage of this by sometimes telling me to send my flames to her house to test my reach in different states of tiredness", he said as he took a seat and closed his eyes in concentration.  
Using the flame projection was always odd. He saw colours more vividly, but he also seemed to be able to see things that just weren't there. Blocks, polls, power concentrations, rooted flames that kept moving, but never seeing him. His own set was more flexible than the others he saw, bouncy like a rubber band, but they had different qualities than his did.  
Naoki opened his eyes, now glowing orange while a small flame was flickering on his forehead like a lighthouse. That tiny remain was his mark light so he could find back.

Xanxus stared at what was happening, fascinated by the unfamiliar flame and its properties. He could clearly see that Naoki was still present to some degree, reacting to them, but he was seeing something else. Such clash between senses sounded harsh and dangerous, yet it had its advantages, he was sure of that.

With the ease of practiced manner, Naoki entered the Sawada residence, where he was greeted by his teacher, like always. "He's up stairs", she said quietly as if not to alert her snoring husband.  
Going past Iemitsu without alarming him of his presence was an odd experience. The man seemed to be radiating his own flames uncontrollably, allowing them to roam the house as they pleased. A dangerous decision to do.  
Naoki slid through the walls and climbed up the stairs, into the bedroom of the son, Tsunayoshi.  
But to his surprise, the younger teen was awake and sat in a ring with his friends, the tiny tutor located next to him.

"Listen up Tsuna, you might've won today, but next time you may not be as lucky", Naoki blinked as he took a seat on the bed, idly wondering how and why he was even able to do so. He dimmed his flames to avoid being detected.

He'd never come across a situation where his target was awake before this. How was he to proceed?  
The tiny man, Naoki vaguely remembered seeing him year ago at the airport, though he wasn't entirely sure of it, suddenly looked up, staring directly at the high schooler. Naoki froze in his place, what should he do now? Was he screwed? Did the man know?  
Reborn frowned mumbling about stupid Iemitsu and flames, Naoki relaxed ever so slightly. The teen looked up, through the ceiling he could vaguely make out a blue flame, but it wasn't given if it was one of his set as Valentino had explained.  
But... The way the blue flame was flickering, as if it was being suppressed, out of oxygen, made the Fire flame user want to cry. He needed to do something. Anything.  
He got up from his seat and walked forward, his ghostly hand accidentally brushing against the hitman's cheek as he went towards the window.

Reborn's eyes widened in surprise, he'd felt this presence before in his dreams. It felt familiar, loving, longing, sad, and yet hopeful. He looked around in the room, but he already knew that there was no-one else besides his student, Yamamoto, Gokudera and Ryohei. His pea-eyed stare levelled on Tsuna, sure of this presence having been his student's psyche reacting to everyone around him. The weight on his pacifier felt lighter.

With ease (and lack of actual gravity to pull his flame reflection down), Naoki propelled himself up to the roof.  
There, he saw a young woman, whose nationality he couldn't quite make out, perched on the highest top of the building. Her dark eyes were dim and void of light, air of confusion surrounding her.  
Naoki extended his hand to make a contact with the flame wall that surrounded her.  
The woman jolted, looking around on high alert.  
The male wasn't exactly sure what he was doing or how he was doing it, but something shifted within the person in front of him. She relaxed and even smiled a little as she pulled a face mask over her mouth. Naoki sweat dropped.

Had he just made contact with a biker gang member?

His way back to his real body was fast and went through without bigger problems. Though the knowledge of cats apparently being able to see him was somewhat unnerving. The buggers kept staring at him eyes wide and spooking their owners, and by passers, which was less than ideal.

As he slipped back into his own familiar body, he felt exhausted. His eyes met with Xanxus' who silently poured him another cup of coffee. "I made contact with someone. I'm not exactly sure what", Naoki explained sipping the bitter beverage, "But whatever it was, it took a lot of energy from me". Before Xanxus could ask any questions, Naoki was out like a blown candle, one second awake, asleep the next. Like a switch had been flipped.  
Xanxus gave a look to Levi, who scoffed, yet obeyed his boss' order, carrying the teen upstairs to his room.  
"Voi, what do you see in that brat?" Squalo hissed lowly, like an angry cat. He wanted to understand what was going on through the man's head. Xanxus stared back at him.  
"The trash sees me."

Squalo shifted uncomfortably, but he couldn't deny the claim. There just was something unsettling about it.

While the teen had been on his little adventure _outside_ of his own body, he'd still answered to them matter of factly. Given them his insight on what they were like, colour coded them based on how they felt.  
And those colours had matched their flames.

Then there was the overall look in the boy's eyes, those amber mirrors that stared at you without any emotion other than sympathy.  
They felt old, as if they had already seen a lot more than it was physically possible for someone of his age, like the teen held the key to the mysteries of this world, knew every answer there was to be known. With one look, he took in everything of your appearance to disturbing detail, and sometimes complimented these details. But Lord when he looked you in eye. It was like you were staring right back from there, or the better version of you, the version Naoki saw, the potential of being something.  
He went into your mind, into your skin and 'neath it, into your veins and heart and somehow, somehow... Something happened.  
You wanted to hate him.  
You wanted to shoot him where he stood, eradicate the threat he possessed.   
But at the same time you wanted to know what happened next, what he'd do next, how it'd impact the world around you.

Squalo had come to Namimori in search of the heir of Vongola, he'd come to Namimori in order to cut down the civilian boy, who stood between his boss and the throne of clams.  
But he'd found a part of himself he didn't think he even had, he'd found someone who somehow wasn't surprised by anything he did, someone who just... accepted him, listened to him.  
And the boy never asked for anything. Somehow Squalo was sure that if he'd someday do so, the Varia would answer within one second.

In Xanxus' mind, things were different. He perceived the foreign sky differently.  
As he saw the teen look into him, he also saw an opening to look into the small boy. Inside that little body was so much confusion and concern, and yet it was eager to help anyone who needed it. Those amber orbs were also honest, which was something he appreciated. The teen didn't try to suck up to him nor was he really afraid of him. On top of this, he was ready to extend his care on them too.

Naoki asked them tiny questions, personal questions, but nothing too personal. Like their favourite foods and if they could give him the recipe. The Varia leader was pretty sure that would the teen been a female, he would've been deemed to be Nadeshiko material.  
However, he also recognised the danger that came with the boy being so easy to like, the risk of anyone saying a little too much was always present and with the teen being there it skyrocketed. It wasn't because he asked them to tell him things, it was because they wanted to. And because they didn't let him down, they wanted him to give them that small smile he did to the stray cats, congratulate them for good jobs, fuss over them when they were hurt and just...

They wanted to be the object of his admiration.

Xanxus had never had real problems with the trash he'd called his family until he'd been deep frozen, not even if it seemed that way. The only thing he did have a problem with was people refusing to look into his eyes, refusing to actually look at him.  
Sure they were always giving glances and whispering with their intoxicated words behind his back, but they never actual saw him. Not even the old man.  
But this civilian raised boy was different. He didn't flinch when he looked at him, he didn't shy away from looking into his eyes, he wasn't scared of saying his own opinion. It was.... Nice. Unexpected, unfamiliar, scary. Especially with the boy not giving any orders, but rather just suggestions. And oh lord his voice.  
It made you pay attention to it. It didn't demand it, it didn't ask for it, it just was given it. Added to the boy's other qualities, Xanxus was pretty sure that Naoki was how mothers were supposed to be. Screw Sawada's wife, Xanxus would wander to Naoki's house for supper long after the Ring Battles.

Saturday morning came to Namimori as if someone had ripped open a bag of chips and poured them into a bowl. (Pardon me, I am very hungry as I am writing this). The Oda residence was surprisingly silent for housing six assassins and group of teenagers.  
The house owner, Naoki Oda, wandered to the kitchen in order to prepare breakfast for others. To most of the guests, he prepared another Italian breakfast of caffè latte and bread, but for Belphegor he made sure to make omurice as the teen had seen it in some anime last night and decided that he wanted to try it, he made another, albeit a lot smaller, to Mammon too as he wasn't sure if the baby could eat the bread comfortably.

As if on a cue, the assassins marched down the stairs, some of them bickering amongst themselves, but this came to halt when they reached the kitchen, where Naoki, Haruka and Cain were already starting their meal.

Xanxus gave a pointed stare to Naoki's plate, inspecting it thoroughly, before coming to the conclusion that it was alright. The Varia sat down to stare at the plates.  
"Mu.. What is this?" Mammon mumbled as they poked the omurice with a spoon. Naoki smiled apologetically. "It's chicken omurice, I wasn't sure of what you were able to eat, so I thought that something easy on the jaws would be good"  
Mammon stared at the portion on the obviously children's plate that had Sailor Mercury on it. The american football shaped golden yellow thing was still warm and emitted mouth watering scent. On top of the yellow thing was a cat face drawn with ketchup. The illusionist then turned to look at the another obviously for children intended item, a sippy cup. Their small and chubby hand reached for the cup, lifting it up without taking away the lid.  
"Strawberry milk.", "Oh, um... I can get you something else-", "It's fine"

Naoki blinked, his mind translating the small sentence in his head. So.... The maybe not a baby actually preferred strawberry milk? He'd need to stack up on it for future. But...   
"So uh... What kind of textures and foods are good for your um...", the teen struggled with finding the right word, he was positive that the hooded person wasn't actually a child even if they did look like one, "..... Condition...?"  
Mammon took a double look on the disgustingly honest boy, weighting their choices. It didn't seem like the boy was exactly aware of what arcobalenos were nor what it meant. Which could've been an advantage, but at the same time it'd be a drag on the long run. Out of the eight cursed ones, Mammon was the one who was truly having a problem with what the curse made them all look like.  
It wasn't easy to explain why a baby would want to open multiple bank accounts.

"Mmu.. You're doing so far fine, just keep it soft enough and not too hot and I'll be fine", the illusionist answered, deciding to let the boy be in his current state of confusion for another day. He didn't know the boy too well yet and therefore didn't really trust him despite of their own senses telling them to do so. What a dangerous little boy he was indeed.  
Xanxus glanced into the boy's direction, noting how the teen had been making a wide variety of Japanese cuisine instead of trying to appeal to them with Italian ones during dinner. Perhaps it was because of the boy not knowing many Italian foods, maybe he was just stubborn.   
Whichever it was, it was refreshing to see if he was honest, though it felt slightly insulting. At least the boy did listen to him and was now eating more.  
The boy actually seemed to be slightly taller now too.

"Trash, how many languages can you understand?" Naoki looked into his direction, his brows furrowing slightly.  
"Umm.. Well... I am fluent in English and Japanese, but...", his eyes turned to Squalo, who was enjoying his cappuccino, "I've heard... If you are able to understand Italian, you can also understand, Spanish, French and Latin... With the knowledge of Swedish you can understand the other Scandinavian languages... Is that true?"  
The Varia stared at the teen in silence, it was as if they'd just been given a cheat code to life itself. Truly, the said languages had the same base to how they worked, so technically one could go about in all of the Indo-European countries by learning only one or two of them. Slavic and Ugric languages were their own cans of worms that shouldn't be opened. Same with Asian languages, they all seemed to follow different rules and constructions and by using the wrong language in the wrong country could get you instantly maimed.

"You... Aren't wrong...", "Why did you ask me about the languages anyway?"

The sound of glass hitting the wood disturbed the awkward silence that had followed the question. Why had the second leader of Varia asked such question? Xanxus cracked his croissant in half and buttered it up, not caring of the eyes that were on him. The Varia had an idea of what the man in the form of a teenager could be thinking of.

"I was thinking of training you to be Varia Quality", "Why?"

Xanxus put his hand into his pocket and swiftly pulled out a picture that he slid in front of Naoki. The teen stared at the photo silently. It was an old photo, probably from the late the 1800s and usual to the Japanese fashion, it'd been painted over with a thin layer of paint, to showcase what the person in the photo looked like.   
The man was wearing a black suit, very similar to the ones worn by the Varia. He was probably few years older than Naoki, his features were better defined. His unblinking eyes were purple and appeared to judge whoever was taking the photo. Naoki looked back to Xanxus.  
"He was a freelance assassin and a hitman during the early days of Vongola and Allegri, he was simply known as Kaze and Giustizia. It's been rumoured that he'd been multi flamed person like yourself, maybe even a sky, but there's no guarantee that to be the truth"

Naoki nodded slowly, seeing how and why Xanxus might've come to his decision of training him, he did resemble the man awful lot.

"So... If I do have similar flames to him....", "...... You might be able to pull off some of his signature moves"

The very idea was way too tempting to him, to get stronger with the teachings of an actual mafia group based on sneaky battle tactics? He'd be insane to not take the offer!  
Naoki extended his hand to Xanxus, who took it without any hesitation. "I'll make sure to make it up to you", "Just don't become a scum and we'll be clear".


	11. XI

Dark brows were furrowed in worry, light amber eyes darted back and forth between the two tanned figures in front of him. Two men with bright red eyes stared at one another in silence, both trying to see if the other one will crack first and draw out their weapon.

It all had started out so innocently.....

"Oh hey Nao! How about we go to the cake shop today? Just you, me, Tetsuya, Baku and Suri?" Valentino suggested as the two were walking down the hallway, Baku not too far behind. "You mean the new one in the centre? I think that Hitatchiin's mom runs it?", "Hitatchiin? Oh, you mean Mai", "How is it that you are able to refer to everyone so casually, but when I do it everyone seems to get a heart attack?"  
"It must be because of my devilishly good looks", the blonde said as he flipped his hair dramatically, rewarded with another girl fainting. Naoki snorted at this, both already knowing that it was probably because of Valentino being a foreigner, so people forgave him a lot easier for such mishaps. "I think that Mayoi was given a special permission to work part time, I was told that the school usually doesn't allow it", the teen said before he stopped to look at his own reflection from the mirror. It'd been now a month since Xanxus had told him that he'd be trained by Varia, month and a half since the said male had instructed him to eat better and it was starting to show.

He'd grown couple centimeters since then, he was sure of it, and on top of it his features had become finer. His eyes looked narrower, as did his face, over all he was starting to look more like an adult. And it was about the time too, he was already eighteen years old after all.  
Valentino stopped to look at his friend, noticing his apparent confusion, and smiled gently. He then ruffled his friend's hair earning a yelp and group of protests. "Don't worry about it Nao, you'll be in good shape in no time", it had turned out that the flame leech had caused a delay in the boy's growth spurt, but he'd be sure to catch up with the rest of his age group, the treatments he'd gone through along with the changes in his diet had taken care of that.

With the city being once again silent and safe, the Sumiyoshi-kai had come back from hiding their presence. The graduation time was nearing and some heirs were preparing to take over their responsibilities as dons and donnas. Naoki himself was very nervous himself, he'd been invited to two inheritance ceremonies, it'd be the first public appearance of Paravento. He'd also be watching over the Syracuse base's renovations.  
Tetsuya, Suri, Valentino and Baku had all gifted Naoki a small fortune, which he'd used in buying an actual castle by the ocean to become the official HQ, Haruka having the ability to tap into his own inheritance already was also an advantage to them, and thus they could start the building and rebuilding a lot earlier than anticipated. They'd also managed to get few new members in Kaname, Haruka's childhood friend and bodyguard Jean, Natalia (Haruka's maid), Mochida and few others.

Baku caught up on them right on time for Tetsuya and Suri to join them. The French Donna to be immediately tried to glomp Naoki, who narrowly avoided it. One day he'd be able to tell the woman that he wasn't some plush toy to be hugged and squeezed.  
The group left the building, Suri now slightly pouting as she was attached onto the arm of the indifferent Tetsuya.  
The quintet walked through the city, not bothering to go home first to change from the uniforms, minus the only woman of the group, Suri had never taken up to wear the school uniform and was even now wearing a light green gown. It was incredible what the mafia managed to get away within the usually strict Japanese society.

At the cake shop, named Soleil for some reason, the duo first encountered Haruka wearing a frilly outfit with lace and a bow in their hair. Naoki stared at the uniform, his mind blank. He hadn't expected to come across his friend like this, nor had he expected to see them wear the obviously working uniform of the new cake shop.  
"So...Haru...um", "I wanted to get experience on the field of customer service", "Ah"  
Haruka led them into their table, taking their orders and then disappeared behind the counter to have the barista make their drinks while they'd do the rest.  
Few minutes passed, and as they received their orders, Naoki felt a very familiar presence coming towards their table.

"I didn't know that you were still in the town, Xanxus", he said without turning his head, there really was no need to. Xanxus' flames were very distinctive. The scoff he received was more than enough to confirm that he'd indeed been right and the person directly behind him was Xanxus. The Varia leader looked at the table and who were seated in it, he then sent a glare to his underlings and took a seat next to Naoki.  
......and right opposite of Tetsuya. And then the two were engaged in a staring contest.  
Now that they were seated so closely, you could tell that there were lots of similar features to the two; their eye shape was the same, their brow was shaped the same way, skin colour, eye colour, build. Tetsuya having brown hair instead of black did throw it off a little, but there was no denying that the two were related somehow.

Or that their genetic code had somehow made one of the biggest coincidences happen.

While their appearances were very similar, their flames were very different;  
Tetsuya's flame was powerful and entrancing, it was like seeing a tiger play with a ball, dignified composed, unexpected. Xanxus' flame was wilder, rawer, untamed and violent, like a forest fire. Or two great felines fighting eternally one another, neither one never quite being able to overpower the another.  
The longer the duo kept staring one another, the more their spectators grew afraid of potential war breaking out. Valentino tried to shrink into himself, Baku was notably leaning away from the two bosses of their respective factions and Suri was shielding her face with her fan.

For a split second, one could've sworn to have seen a peacock, a deer, a hare, a tiger, a liger and a lion cub gathered around the table, and as fast as that vision had appeared, it was gone.

A delicate hands with long fingers found their ways on top of the arms of both Tetsuya and Xanxus, the two turning their red gazes towards the amber eyed teen, who was looking at them worriedly. Naoki's brows were furrowed and eyes wide, tears of concern formed in them, he was biting his lower lip anxiously.  
"Are you okay...?" he whispered almost inaudibly, scared that his intervention, his words could start a horrendous fight.  
Two pairs of red eyes widened at this, then glanced at one another before nodding. Neither of them wanted to worry the raven any more than necessary.  
Under their watchful gaze, Naoki relaxed slowly and shot them a shy smile, unaware of the different groups observing him and his movements.

A straw was popped into the mouth of one Kousuke, who was observing his target with a keen eye. He was accompanied by his younger brother, who'd wanted to try the cake shop, especially its chai latte. The young man kept staring at the group of criminals, how the tension levels rouse up upon the Varia's second leader joining them and how a single gesture from Naoki was enough to soothe it. But the tension wasn't completely gone.  
The Suzaku heir was eyeing the said teen with anger in his eyes and jaw clenched. He wasn't really happy with seeing the raven touch the Sumiyoshi-Kai leader to be it seemed, but refrained from any outbursts or ill behaviour. Blue eyes narrowed as he looked into the flames and their behaviour itself. There were multiple skies sitting in one table, usually that didn't bode well. But to his astonishment, three of the skies were protectively wrapped around the fourth flame, one of them also feeding their flames to the fifth in a calming manner. There was also one lightning in the group, but her advances were being repeatedly shut down by the little odd shade of sky.

Kousuke was more than familiar with the flames and abilities of the men in the table;  
 _Valentino Allegri_ , the sunny sky with a hint of rain, _the one to inherit Credo_ in its full glory and the ability to see into one's aura, his flame was the closest to the odd sky, so closely that one could argue them being bonded.  
 _Tetsuya Seki_ , _the Sky of Skies_ , his bright orange (leaning more to redder shade) Unity flame was known for its ability to bond with other skies, a skill that had kept Sumiyoshi-Kai alive to this day, his flames were the second closest to the flame in the centre while feeding the flame that kept its distance.  
 _Xanxus Vongola_ , _Wrath_ , the flame that was highly destructive and violent, the feared leader of Varia, who put Family before everything, his flame was the third one to coat what were the flames of one Naoki Oda, not quite trusting themselves to be able to stay in control enough to not attack the teen.  
 _Baku Go_ , the Sky with the addition of lightning, _the strike from the clear sky_ , was keeping its distance from Naoki's, seemingly wanting nothing to do with them, but from what Kousuke could see, he too wished to be part of it, his traitorous flames trying to find an opening to join the group, too shy to actually ask for permission.  
And then there was the only female in the group, and the only one who wasn't a sky.  
 _Suri Beaulieu, a lightning_. A lightning, who was dancing around the only sky, who didn't have a lightning by his side, trying to wiggle her way into the group, but being always fend off by Tetsuya and rejected by Naoki. The woman was an assassin through and through, it was the Beaulieu gift. And oh she was stubborn, despite of not being truly compatible with the boy.

"How dangerous....", the man mumbled as he sipped his cherry cola light, his brother sparing him a confused look. Kousuke smiled and shook his head claiming that it wasn't anything important, which Heiji obviously didn't buy, his attention shifted to two unknown people, with rather odd lightning and mist flames.

Odd as in... The one who was obviously male, seemed to be giving off sparks and fizzles instead of being the steady current it usually was while the person of unknown gender was..... Wavering, like air on a desert. The duo was working in the café, just entering their shifts, but the uniform of the latter didn't give out any indications of gender.  
The two started to carry the orders into the table of the leaders.

Naoki's eyes snapped onto the customer servers, the two felt.... familiar. Soon enough, he managed to get their attention, two pairs of eyes widening in disbelief. Valentino noticed the shift, his eyes turning towards the same direction as his friend's as he scanned the sea of people. His eyes started to glow slightly as he looked properly into them, searching for the source of the disturbance. As he found it, his mind went blank for a brief second. Two unknown people, unknown flames, were gliding towards them with their orders.  
"I think... That's... Heat and Spark", Naoki mumbled when the duo got to their table. He stated at them in wonder, taking in their features incase he'd need to look for them again. He didn't want to be apart of them anymore. Ever.  
The male was obviously a foreigner, his facial structure similar to the Slavic one, his thick hair being somewhat tamed and complexion of olive. The man's black eyes darted to Naoki, and connection was made. The other person wasn't easy to figure out their appearance being over all neither male or female. Their short hair was bubblegum pink and eyes grey, and there was a hint of makeup on their face, but it wasn't sure what for. Maybe they just liked makeup? It wasn't like men didn't enjoy trying it out too every now and then just like some women preferred to be without.

"Spark? Heat?", "Fire/Boss, you called for us earlier?"

Kousuke popped another macaron into his mouth, eyes darting between the people in the group.  
Taran, no last name available, a Russian orphan, joined circus at the age of ten, currently nineteen. A strong lightning with very cloudy behaviour, equally strong storm secondary.  
Nyx, no last name available, orphan from Russia, but not Slavic by blood, potentially German or Hungarian? Maybe even Swedish? Circus since the age of 5, currently eighteen years old, Mist with secondary rain.

The two flames swirled around the skies, skies that made instinctively room for them while still blocking Suri's. The dance that took place between them and the young sky flame was rather odd, mainly because it really did resemble more of a dance than the regular bonding of sky flame and its elements. Was Naoki a sky? Kousuke was having doubts at this moment.  
It was rather entrancing to follow, the bonding moment, and once it was over...

Heiji gasped as he put a hand onto his chest, above of his heart, surprised look splattered over his face. Kousuke looked at him in concern, but the teen soon waved him off. "I just had a sudden feeling that... That everything was now how it should be", that... Didn't really make sense, but it also made some sense.  
Kousuke ate another macaron thinking back to his own experiences with skies.  
He'd never been able to bond with any of them for one reason or another. They were all too stiff for him, not flexible enough, and then there had been the over bearing attitudes that were trying to force him into acting certain way, be certain way.... It was no wonder that he preferred to be written off as completely flameless person who just happened to be good with computers. He'd been ignoring and declining every single invitation he'd received after his bad experiences too, he had no need nor interest in becoming anyone's shield to be thrown between the danger and the Famiglia. The worst offender had to be the CEDEF leader Iemitsu though, the man was just so obnoxious and full of himself. Oh, Kousuke would've joined the Vongola, especially CEDEF, if it hadn't been for the incompetence of the others and the obnoxious and utterly horrible skies that were in it. He needed freedom, not chains and rules.

The hacker's phone went off as he was graced with another message from a contact he simply had dubbed as Seiryuu. The man was actually one of the rare people, who knew exactly what was going on in Namimori and what it meant for the future, and he never left his home. He was more interested in writing than socialising, which sadly was making most of the people pull their hair. Especially the Academy that had been trying to get him attend their Galas for years.  
Kousuke redd the message quickly and smiled at it, typing his own answer swiftly. He didn't mind sharing his knowledge with this man for free, but he swore once again that he'd eventually find out who he exactly was and how he'd found out about him.  
The brothers left the cake shop, Heiji talking about his plan to actually go to the house of his sky to properly meet him and the others, while Kousuke was smoking (and being scolded by Heiji about his unhealthy habits once the teen noticed this).  
Naoki stared after the duo as they exited the building, feeling that he'd just missed something important, while starting to notice that he was being observed.  
A pair of steel eyes kept their gaze steadily on his face, calculating, questioning, yearning. Just what was the boy and how had he been able to touch her, move her, without even being there, without ever meeting her?

On the opposite side of the town, a writer logged out of Skype and resumed to writing, golden eyes sparkling with mischievous intent as his lover was brushing his long hair. He wasn't exactly happy with the situation though, he'd be forced to actually go out soon, take part in the twice cursed gala since his wife had requested (demanded) it.  
The man frowned just thinking about it, westerner clothing, he was expected to wear westerner clothing. It was unheard of. The pair of hands that were taking care of his hair came to halt. "Suke, you're pouting again", a tenor voice said, "You're doing this for Kyoya, remember? And Kimiko said that you need to do this too". The man, Ryosuke was his name, sighed and rubbed his temples. His wife and his husband had put their rivalry aside in order to get him to do this. Oh how he'd hoped that he could just send one of the Kusakabes to fetch the prize for him.

"Remind me what I'm supposed to not be doing again Shuu?", "Murder an entire room of other authors, judges, nor prez, be late, tardy, drunk nor make an entrance with your old motorbike. Oh and you aren't allowed to wear kimono."  
Ryosuke groaned, he really wanted to do all those things. Badly.  
"But Shuu, they're all omegas, why should I, an alpha pay mind to them or even be near them?", Shuichi gave him a crooked smile, he'd had witnessed a similar exchange between Ryosuke and his son after all. "You told Kyo that he isn't allowed to bite his classmates to death unless he attends school and keeps up good grades, you are supposed to be an example for him of how a true leader should be and act".  
Ryosuke's shoulders fell as he mumbled "Touché" under his breath, his husband was just one sneaky man. Shuichi looked at the older man and tilted his head in an attempt to see the screen behind him.

It wasn't really a novel that the man was writing at that moment, but a report of what was going on in the town. His sharp brown eyes caught a sight of certain name.

"So... Old Oda's grandson made it? He finally has his group together?", he asked as he leaned in closer to inspect the text.

_"April 6th, 2008, Naoki Oda, also known as Paravento Primo, has completed his set of Guardians and managed to do his first negotiation between the mafia and the yakuza, successfully defusing the situation before any weapons were drawn."_

Shuichi stared at the page, his brows furrowing in confusion. "Suke, how was he able to do that? He's not the Sky of Skies like Tetsuya is nor is he pure Sky like Tsunayoshi", Ryosuke took a sip of green tea, it was already cold but he didn't mind really, his gaze was locked on the screen.  
"It's not about the flames Shuu, not really, it's about something that both he and his grandfather had", "What is it?"  
"Charisma and certain way of seeing the world. He's able to do these things, because he expects them to happen. And the others comply because he is unconsciously making his own vision become their vision too", Ryosuke stated carefully as he placed the now empty cup on the table, "It's part of the Flame Projection ability, but it takes a certain personality to execute it".  
The man leaned back on his chair, eyes cast on the ceiling, thinking.  
"He's the same as the man who was part of our bloodline, the one who was simply known as Kaze. The killing method nobody has been able to execute perfectly after his death, was made possible by his ability to project things, make his visualisations reality. Fire is a tedious element, much like water, it plays with our senses, makes us see what isn't there, makes us react to what we think we see. It's like mist, but more dangerous, because all of its elements are capable of it if they put their minds into it, unlike the others".

Ryosuke then smiled brightly at his husband, who was staring at him with confused and slightly scared look in his eyes. "You're lucky that this boy isn't a Hibari unlike our son, otherwise he'd completely destroy the city with his vision".


	12. XII

In the dark of the night, a silhouette of a young woman reflected against the bright light of the moon. The powers were out in the house due to a well placed piece that disturbed the current, cutting out the electric input that the power plant of the town provided. The woman snuck inside, her mind set and heart hard as a stone. She needed to get rid of the disturpions of any kind, she needed to get rid of the being that had binded with her, bonded with the flame she wasn't supposed to have.  
The Triads was a strict master, expecting only excellence and perfection from its members. Failure was met with dishonour that'd carry on in one's blood, torture and, of the leaders were feeling merciful, death. As a failed assassin, a mist who isn't actually a mist but a rain, the woman, who was now approaching the bedroom of her personal target, had already been subjected to the repeated "correction treatment". And she didn't wish to go through it again, therefore she needed to get rid of yet another stain that was disgracing her and her family.

The man, who she'd bonded with by accident, the Japanese high schooler with gravity defying hair and infuriatingly patient eyes. He was disturbing her work, making her incapable of getting rid of the Vongola Decimo. His existence was her weakness and she'd rather destroy her very being than hand her last bit of freedom to someone else. Her inability to bond with the triads had given her somewhat freedom, for example she was allowed to take jobs overseas. And now that freedom would be dust in the wind. She wouldn't allow it.  
She opened the door quietly, thanking her ancestors for the joints not making a sound. Her silent steps carried her over to the bed. She pulled out a cylinder...

"If I'm being honest... Nobody hasn't been trying to kill me this openly before, well to be completely honest, only one person has tried so far", a voice came from behind her, causing the woman to freeze. She hadn't expected this to happen. "How did you know what I was planning?", "I had a feeling"

The lights were flipped on, momentarily blinding the assassin, who dropper the cylinder on surprise. "Are you aware of the fact that if you bond with a sky outside of your faction, it cuts off your ties to Triads? My Smoke Guardian, though I believe that you'd call her my second Mist Guardian, told me this interesting little fact", her sky, the man he was there to kill, said with an even voice, picking up the cylinder, "Her mother used to be in triads, but she bonded with someone, and thus was cast out. The Triads didn't like her double flame either, they seem to be after only the purest flames. Anything that may be seen as impure and faulty gets disposed of". It hurt. It burned to be reminded of this fact, that her own group saw her as impure and faulty over her abilities.

The male turned to her, face serious like the masks the leaders used when they talked to her. "Do you want to be free from it all?"

Naoki hadn't really felt anything over seeing one of his people, one of his bonded sneak into his room with the intention to kill. He'd just followed the woman as she moved, made sure that she didn't notice him (which had been the most challenging thing in the situation), and the attempt to surprise her AND survive the encounter. But in that moment, when it'd come clear that she was indeed in for a kill, he hadn't felt anything.  
He should've felt offended, angry, sad, betrayed even, but there'd been nothing. And it horrified him to realise that he didn't actually care about that, about the possibility of being murdered. It made him question his own humanity. It wasn't that he didn't care about himself, he just... Would've accepted death. But he chose not to allow himself being murdered. Because he remembered the painfully hurt flames that the woman was trying to suppress. He'd seen a hint of what the woman was afraid of and what he saw compelled him to make his move. Lie in wait for her to come to him.  
He'd noticed her in the cake shop earlier that day, when they had been leaving, he'd seen her. While in the cake shop, he'd been observed by her. (There had been a few others who'd been doing that too, but Naoki didn't notice them).

"Poison?" he said pointing at the cylinder while his break-in guest was still processing what had just happened. He sighed. "Look, I wouldn't mind being killed by you, if it wasn't painfully obvious that you have to do it to protect yourself from whatever punishment your people will place on you over this. But I'm telling you", he locked his eyes with hers, not allowing her to look away nor back down, "If you take that path nothing will change. You'll still be trapped, you'll still be treated horribly, you'll still have to keep your actual self hidden".

He moved to his desk, starting to rummage through the drawers. "I am giving you a choice, Glow, to cut ties with the Triads and become the Paravento Glow Guardian, have better flexibility and freedom, or stay with the Triads and potentially go through your own personal hell for the umpth time in your life". The woman's eyes narrowed, she wasn't trusting this person, she wasn't even sure of what he was exactly telling her. It sounded too good to be true. He had to be attempting to deceive her.  
Naoki sighed to himself, fully aware of the woman not trusting him at one bit. It was saddening and infuriating. He wanted to hug the woman, tell her that it was okay, but at the same time he wanted to annihilate the Triads for causing this situation.   
It just wasn't right. He walked to the door, opening it enough to walk out of the room. In the hallway, he looked back at her and smiled sadly.  
"The choice is yours to make, Glow, I'll be waiting in the kitchen. If you want you can come with, I have cake there"

The woman stared after him, she looked at her weapons, the flute like object that she could've used for shooting a poison dart to her victim, the poisonous cylinder that were tugged onto the belt on her waist, the knives, the needles. And she wondered....

Would she have been able to kill the boy if he had been actually sleeping? When he'd been in the room, she had found herself to be unable to draw another weapon after the lights had been somehow switched back on despite of her meddling (Cain had actually found her little device and taken it off of the fuse box, no mysteries there). She wasn't exactly sure what it was, maybe it was the eyes, maybe it was the flames, but something just made her unable to hurt him. And then there was his offer. It was just too good to be true. Everything in the boy was too good to be true. She'd been observing him secretly trying to figure out what his deal was.  
But she'd only seen him to be a little timid person, who took care of others. But why did he take care of these people? Was there any merit to it? What did he gain from it? Loyalty? Money? She'd found out that he liked to draw, and was a pretty decent at it, but he was terrible at geography, he was able to calculate complex math equations, but he was hopeless with tangents and such. He was sometimes clumsy, he flinched whenever he heard people shout. _He was weak_.

And yet he was so confident and kind and it made no sense! It HAD TO BE faked. He HAD TO BE fake. People like him DIDN'T EXIST.

He must be manipulative to have the Varia boss be wrapped around his finger like that. People don't just flock onto you for no reason, there had to be something, some perk, to gain from it.  
Her stomach growled, reminding her of the fact that she'd barely eaten that day. The assassin moved to the downstairs and into the kitchen, where the teen was, surrounded by a group of people. Quick scoping revealed that there were a storm, a cloud, a lightning and two mists present along with the sky. There was a strawberry shortcake on the table, neatly cut in eight slices and eight cups, it seemed like there was supposed to be one more person present. Probably the Sun that was obviously missing.

Naoki looked up at her, expecting the answer probably.  
"I'll decide later", "Oh, okay"

Well that was anticlimactic, she'd thought that he'd be demanding the answer. The boy smiled gently, and the woman felt a lump in her throat, there wasn't anything wrong with the smile, she just hadn't been the one to ever be the one to be receiving such smile.  
"Take your time, hasty decisions aren't good ones to make".  
Time...he was giving her time infinitely. He was giving the power to her, to make the decision, to choose the time she makes it, to choose when to inform him of her decision and if she'll ever will. It felt... Nice, genuine, relaxing.

"Oh! I forgot, I am Naoki Oda, but you can call me Nao", she blinked as the professionalism he'd previously been radiating faded away, turned into relaxed conversation, "These are Cain, Inferno Guardian; Haruka, Ash Guardian; Yui, Smoke Guardian; Nyx, Heat Guardian and Taran, Spark Guardian. The Coal Guardian hasn't yet revealed himself to us, but I think that it won't be for long before he'll join us physically". The assassin raised a brow at this introduction, the titles that had been used were unfamiliar, and they sounded like someone had just looked up several words related to fire and just rolled with it. And the mention of the missing Guardian not showing themself physically sounded odd. As far as she knew, you couldn't bond from afar. "Xia He Li, assassin of the Triads, Mist Division, 12th rank", was how she answered, not really telling much, but still enough. One of the girls(?) shifted as she moved the weight from her left to the right foot. Her eyes were filled with doubt as she looked Xia He up and down. "You're not mist though. You have it as a secondary, but you're not comfortable with it", the girl said from next to the other girl(?), Haruka, who simply nodded. "And what exactly do you know about me and how I work miss?" the Chinese hissed through her teeth, like an angry cat. "My mother was from Triads, and I have my connections. I also happen to be double flamed myself. Smoke and Cloud."

"Yui, Xia He doesn't know about the flames we use or how they differentiate from the other sets", "Oh, right. Sorry, Nao"

Yui ended up filling the woman in about what they knew, of the four sets and how they were connected and how some of them had seemingly disappeared. Xia He took this all in, trying to find any fault in the reasoning, or untruths, but with the scrolls that the teenaged girl had pulled out heavens knew where, she had no choice but to accept it as a fact.  
"So... You're telling me, that there has been actually four sets instead of just the two opposites, Sky and Earth, and that these sets are tied to the four gods and the basic elements?", "Pretty much", "And certain flame sets ask for different awakening method?", "Yup"

Xia He looked at the group, another question clearly written inside of her mind. Naoki looked up from his slice of cake and spoke.  
"I was brought to full activation by a flame leech that was feeding off of my life essence. My flames are Fire, Cloud and Rain, though it seems like my secondary flames were originally sky flames, Shamal found small traces of it. He believes that the sky flames I had mutated into Cloud flames as a response to having another Leading flame active and the need to rebel the leech", he said as he looked at his Guardians.  
Cain took a sip of his coffee, "Stunt gone wrong, horrible landing, yet here I am. Inferno, cloud and rain". Haruka sighed as they pushed the empty plate forward. They really wanted to get more cake, but the last piece was reserved for the Coal. Naoki had a feeling that he'd be arriving soon. And by that he meant within the next three days. Naoki's sense never really told him when something was about to happen. "I was visiting the zoo with my nanny, miss Natalia, and the orphan boy she took in by the name Jean, there was a lion pit, filled with white lions, maybe albinos, and I leaned in. Wellp, the fence gave in and I fell into the pit, I broke my arm. The alpha male charged towards me, but came to a halt for a second, then it just.... Carried me to the letche from where the zookeeper usually threw food to them. Also apparently Ash flames have healing properties as it took about ten minutes for my arm to get better".

Yui smiled at the group, her own story felt tamer than the previous ones, but it was one nevertheless. "My dad tried to teach me how to swim, so as the rational adult he was, he threw me into the lake and I nearly drowned. Like said before I am Smoke and Cloud, and I am actually bonded to two people, Nao and Baku, through the two flames I possess".  
Taran shifted his feet and looked at Nyx, the hooded figure shuffling a little in something that could be interpreted as a nod. "Nyx and I worked in the Circus from an early age, tightrope dancers, and.... Well.... Our circus didn't use safety nets originally. During practice we fell off of the rope, I somehow managed to get tangled into one of the swings, Nyx fell straight down. We both became active during that incident. I am Spark", Nyx shifted as the male spoke, their own voice chimed in, "I am Heat". The group fell silent for a while as they collectively realised that each of them became active due to the fact that they were severely injured or nearly died violently. Xia He herself stared speechlessly, remembering her own moment of activation.

She'd failed during a practice assassination, her mentor had wrapped his hands around her neck. And kept applying the pressure until she couldn't breathe, until she saw stars. Had she not become active, she would've died there and then.

"The... Fire set.... Activates only when the person is subjected to great amount of pain, fear and near death...?" she whispered not wanting to believe it herself. The sky set seemed to become active at the slightest inconvenience, any strong emotion was enough to do it. That's why there were so many young people who were flame active in the mafia. It took almost nothing to activate someone unless they had a block or sort in their system or were latent. "The Earth set users can activate from shock, which can actually be fatal, so in a way we have it maybe better, though most of us are scarred for life", Yui said as she took a bite of her cake, "I once knew a guy who died of shock, and he'd just become an active Glacier too". Naoki shot a glance at her, wondering if this was part of the reason why there were so few Fire and Earth flame users, they just didn't manage to activate in time or were already dying when they did, and so they just perished. It was no wonder that the mafia wasn't trying to activate Fires at young age, most wouldn't be able to make it. "Mare set requires long term of abuse of any kind, but the flame cores that can sustain it are often fragile and their holders have some handicaps. I am yet to meet one from the set who doesn't have a weak health", Yui added and the room went silent once again. They all had heard enough of how the criminal world worked to know what happened to those who weren't healthy in body or in mind.

They were disposed of, silently, efficiently, brutally.

Cain suddenly perked up as he remembered something, his hand diving inside of his pocket and pulling out a tiny black button. He placed it on the table in front of Naoki quietly. "I found this the other day, it's a bug, someone's trying to spy on us Nao", he said as the Fire lifted the button up to examine it, "It's currently inactive, but I've never seen anything like this before". The group turned to look at the small device and how Naoki turned it around to see if there was anything to be found from it. Xia He also looked at the button curiously, as she'd seen something that was similar to it, but not exactly that specific model. "If we purposely plant this somewhere, and don't forget about it, we can feed false information through it", Nyx said as they eyed the piece with great interest, they had a thing for spy things. Naoki nodded as he handed the device to them.  
"Nyx, think that you and Cain could replicate this or make a better version? One with the camouflage ability would be useful for us", the two Guardians perked up, happy to be given an interesting project to work on. The two excused themselves immediately, hurrying towards Cain's workshop, which had been moved to the newly built cellar. Haruka glanced at Naoki, worried of what was to come. "Nao, those are produced in my father's company and only sold to the military", the Tenoh heir said uncomfortably, not wanting to think of the possibility of them being targeted by the government. But Naoki didn't react to this notion. "It's not a government agent Haru", he said finally as he followed his guts, "I think that it's the hacker who has been sending me messages at night".

In the house opposite of the Sawada residence, a former agent trainee furrowed his brows, idly wondering how the male had found out that tiny fact.

He was certain that he had been careful about it.


	13. XIII

Mizushima Heiji, aged fourteen, stared at the large wooden door in front of him. Sure, he'd known that his mysterious sky, or fire, lived in the old house, but he hadn't expected it to be so... So... _Massive_.

The middle schooler swallowed difficulty, his throat feeling dry and hoarse.

This was it. He'd finally, finally, meet the man who had visited him in his room that night, who had since then been plaguing his dreams by appearing into them as a warm and welcoming presence, who had been somehow calming him from afar.  
Oh how nervous he was, he really wished that Kousuke had come with him but...

_"Go to the Oda residence? Sorry pal, I can't do that right now", Kousuke said as he smiled apologetically to him, "I need to grade all of these tests"._

Oh, Heiji knew that Kou was lying to him, he wasn't stupid, but he'd decided not to push it. The man had been really stressed out lately, spent more and more time with testing out the new spy equipment that the government kept sending him, tweaking them, improving them. It didn't take a genius to realise that the older Mizushima was being held between a hammer and an anvil as both the government and the mafia wanted his services.  
Heiji reached his hand up, ready to press the doorbell. He had to get up onto his tiptoes to do this, much to his displease. Why couldn't he be the size of an adult already? His index finger nearly brushed against the button.

"A, so you're the Coal Guardian? Come on in, he's waiting for you", a man with bright blue eyes and black hair said suddenly from behind the teen, who stumbled backwards in surprise. "Oh- Ah- Um! I am Heiji! Nice to meet you sir!" he said perhaps little too loudly as the man blocked his left ear with his finger, his brow twitching ever so slightly. "Cain, Inferno", the foreigner said as he opened the gate, gesturing the teen to come in. Cain sensed a strange aura coming off of the house next to the Oda residence, his brows furrowed in confusion and eyes turned into slits. Fire flames, he could sense them coming off of the house that belonged to that scary teen, who was supposed to be in high school already, Kyoya Hibari. He sent some of his own to investigate, but soon were stopped by a mix of Glow and Rain flames. His blue eyes widened as he noticed the person in the distance, his short black hair and darker complexion stating that he was a Kusakabe. The two conversed in silence with only their flames and Cain withdrew his own.

There was an injured man who lived next door, he'd been injured for a long time as he'd lost one of his own, and the foreign Glow was there to keep him safe and sound.

Cain led the boy, who had been staring at him with worried expression, inside, where the air conditioning was already fuming despite the fact that it was only the start of the May. Taran and Nyx apparently couldn't take heat very well so Naoki was trying to play it safe and keep the temperature down. In reality it was Naoki, who had slight trouble with adjusting to the changes in environment and especially the temperature. He decided not to mention it though because by default some people had the twice damned habit of doing something that is simply known as "One upping" in which you attempt to make your own problems sound even worse despite of going through exactly same things. This seems to happen especially often with people who are too lazy to check what certain temperature in Celsius is in Fahrenheit and vice versa. More than once Naoki himself had come across a foreigner stating that him feeling hot in 30 Celsius degrees is nothing compared to 86 Fahrenheit. Newsflash, it's the same temperature in different units. However this never quite seemed to be caught on by the tourists who came to his mother's job in order to file complaints to the police about the weirdest things, one being loss of subtitles. What did these people even think they were in? An anime?  
To say the least, Naoki had a great dislike towards those kinds of people and thus usually wrote them off as unnecessary drama creators, who made his usual days slightly unsightier.

Speaking of the teen, where was he?

Inferno looked back and forth in the room, room he could've sworn his Fire having been previously. Heiji stood nervously on his left, part of him wanting to find the source of the familiar warmth he felt swirling in the room. His bright blue eyes scanned the room, finding nothing. He suddenly felt something wrap around his ankle, causing him to jump and fall over. Staring in confusement, his eyes soon found themselves to be locked into a stare with a pair of amber orbs.  
"Damn, she's pretty", he thought to himself, not quite seeing the room due to it being dark.

"King... Why are you on the floor?" Cain asked carefully while Heiji had to reevaluate his previous thoughts. "I remember telling you to call me either Nao or Naoki", the being said as she.... He... Got up lazily. Mercilessly, the eldest in the room switched the light on, earning a hiss from the younger man, who was now rubbing his eyes like a just awoken baby.  
At this point, Heiji was ready to yeet himself into the actual sun because of realising that he just mistook a boy, who was older than he was, and taller than he was, to be a woman AND COMPLIMENTED HIS LOOK IN HIS MIND.  
"You really shouldn't sleep on the floor, King, you'll get sick", "Naoki, it's Na-o-ki, not king, not emperor, not God, Naoki. Also I don't usually get sick easily, or at least I didn't in the past", "Don't jinx it"  
The fluffy haired high schooler turned at the boy in glasses, who flinched instinctively. The look in his eyes had changed, it was a lot sharper now, more perceptive, than it had been. Heiji felt the the glance weight on him like the first sin, but as soon as it was weighing upon his shoulders, it was gone, his whole being felt lighter, mind clearer and heart full. It was as if during that one heavy second, the older boy had taken away everything he had been holding in, all the bad feeling, the things that had been holding him back, slowly breaking his being apart, and just... Made it go away. The middle schooler knew that everything was still there, but he still felt better. Like he could trust the other one.

Naoki smiled, his old looking eyes closing, as he offered his hand to Heiji. "Welcome home, my Coal", his voice carried over like a seductive song (if you asked from the Guardians, Naoki himself was 100% sure that they were over exaggerating (they were)) into the ears of Heiji, who was quick to offer his own hand to be shaken. Cain followed this suite, chuckling to himself as he followed the almost shy antics of their newest Famiglia member.

"I am the boss of Paravento Famiglia, the Sky so to speak. The name is Oda Naoki", the Fire said as he shook the offered hand firmly, "What's yours? I can't refer to you as Coal all the time can I?". Heiji took a second to answer, as his mind was going through the list of things that might use that kind of name for their group. "So... I'm now in mafia, huh... Cool... Uhh... Ummmm.... Mizushima Heiji, that's my name", he answered silently hoping that the teen wouldn't ask questions or be suspicious about him. For a split second, Heiji could see those eyes narrow ever so slightly at his stuttering, before resuming to their previous gentle gaze. "I see... Is it okay if I sometimes call you Mitsu? I just feel like it'd work for you nicely. Or... Himawari?" the amber eyed teen turned to Cain, who was still observing them with an amused look written all over his face. "Umm.. Well.. I use sunflower as my signature whenever I hack into things so... Sure?" the young hacker said as he followed after the teen as he walked towards the table in middle of the room. For those who might be interested, Naoki had been sleeping beneath it until Cain and Heiji had come inside. Yes, the Paravento Primo had rather interesting sleeping habits as those who had decided to move into his house or visited him enough had observed. No, seriously, it was normal to find him from underneath the desk or inside the closet sleeping. Some of his friends, mainly Xanxus and Tetsuya had started to pick him up and toss him to either some other, much softer place, to sleep in or put him into even weirder places. One of these weirder places was the bathtub. But then again, that might've been just Belphegor trying to murder him but then losing interest due to him not waking up to scream. Go fig. "So.... Since you're... The first boss? Should I call you Primo?" Heiji asked adjusting his glasses a little with his right hand. To his surprise, his host stopped in order to take a look at him once again before he flashed a small smile. "If it makes you happy, but I'd prefer to be called by my name", was the answer he received from the male.

On the house next door, a pair of slender hands kept tapping against the keyboard in a rhythmic manner. Behind the owner of those hands stood no other than Mizushima Kousuke, who was looking around uncomfortably.  
The two men stood there in the windowless room, awkward silence only broken by the sound of the keys being pressed and released accordingly to create strings of syllables, which in turn were turned into more complex words.

Kousuke wouldn't probably had felt so uncomfortable in there if there had been anything for him to concentrate on, anything else than the man in traditional clothing, whose whole being was a reminder of him been brought there against his will.  
"So... Uhh.. I don't usually enter the houses of criminals-", "But I am not a criminal, I am simply a novelist who happens to have ties to the biggest Yakuza Group around here"  
"That.... Doesn't really make me feel any better", Kousuke mumbled, while the steely voiced man in front of him kept writing. "I am not trying to make you feel better though, my objective is to make sure that you understand where you are standing.... Akiyama Kousuke".  
Kousuke's eyes widened in shock, he hadn't heard that name in years, hadn't used it since he'd first erased it from the official documents. How did this man, how did Seiryuu, know that name?

Slowly, to avoid making any suspicious sounds, the young adult pulled out his sai. He had to make sure that there wouldn't be any issues with his family background being leaked. He couldn't take any chances, for his brother. He had to-  
"Relax, L27, I am not going to be revealing your real name anywhere. It's very unlikely that I'll ever leave this house, I have no interest in the world that is filled with omegas", the dragon said to him, as if he'd known what he was bondering of doing, "I don't recommend attacking me either. You see, this town needs my flame to balance out someone else's, someone who was so badly damaged that she had to be hidden away from the world. If you were to extinguish my flames, you'd throw the world into chaos". Kousuke froze, if he was reading the situation correctly, then the man was referring to his neighbours, who indeed did possess rather powerful and pure flames for civilians. Or well... Former civilians when it came to the son.  
He'd tried to find more information on them, of Sawada Nana, but it'd been a web of misdirections, lies, and misdirected lies, where lied the truth and where the truth lied were two different points to be uncovered, but one thing was sure about the family.

 _Sawada Iemitsu wasn't born Vongola_.

"Now then, Kou.... Who lives in the next door? In the rather large house that your baby brother just recently waddled in? And why does it stand in middle of the town, instead of this one?" he couldn't answer, for he didn't know the reason, couldn't fathom why, but he did know who. With an even voice, the hacker spoke.   
"Oda Naoki, the grandson of the man known simply as Mediator, lives in that house", he said without unwavering, "student number zero-eight-nine-one-eight-one, ranks as eighty-first in overall studies, yet is something akin to a genius and would he be pushed enough t-", "He's not a genius".  
Kousuke stared at the back of Seiryuu once more, confused as to what was up. Seiryuu's voice had been even yet threatening like a gun pressed against your temple. "Pardon?"

The man turned to look at him, golden yellow eyes, eyes that should belong to a wolf, not a human, stared down at him.

"He isn't a genius, at least not the type you're thinking about. He is a fast learner, true, but he merely memories things without truly understanding them. His strength doesn't lie in academics", the man said firmly, as if he'd known the boy in question his whole life, "He's a walking contradiction. He knows much, but isn't capable of understanding what he has, he can't stand crowds nor staying too long with other people, yet he makes an excellent public speaker, he's good with words, but stutters occasionally, he speaks as if he wasn't a human, yet he shows more humanity than any other human. He isn't a genius. He is simply a human".

Heiji stared at the older teen with wide eyes, he wasn't entirely sure what was going on but it was fascinating to a degree. Seeing the boy, who'd just a while ago been talking confidently suddenly revert into a sluggish stare, almost sounding like a child struggling to stay awake as he went through the calculations. Calculations that he was able to make, yet clearly couldn't comprehend.

"Humans are odd beings aren't they, Heiji?" Naoki said as he marked down yet another number on the concept paper and quickly drew a tiny flower onto the upper left corner, "They go about yearning to be noticed, wanting to be seen by someone, anyone, wishing for money and fame, validation... It's odd and truly fascinating". The way of speech which belonged to someone, someone who saw themself to be an outsider looking in might use, a scientist observing group of mice, but it was more tender by its nature. The speaker didn't feel like he belonged with humans yet had no need to put himself above them. He was just an outsider looking in. Someone secluded, someone who had never quite been introduced to the society. "I don't have that need. I'd much rather be left alone, unseen, undisturbed. Like scenery within a glass ball. Or a painting, pond. Well... More like a small non important detail in them. Nobody looks for unimportant things, nobody searches for them. And so they're free to just be as they are, free from care, from human pain". Heiji made himself more comfortable in the chair he was sitting on, observing the male who kept rambling on and on all the while his pen kept drawing down numbers. Until it was brought to a sudden halt that was. "I... Really can't understand the reason behind it, Coal, what purpose does it have, why seek for validation of someone else? Why wish for attention? And yet...", the pen resumed to its writing task, now sadly scraping against the paper, "I already know that I don't have a heart to turn anyone away without a good reason".  
.... And so I am forced to be at the center of it all...

Words that never fell from his lips managed somehow to be heard by the youngest guardian, who was little by little finding himself to be falling in love with the being in front of him. Found himself to be fascinated, deeply moved, affected, by the creature that was very much a human, yet failed to see just how human he was. He'd already learned all there was to the teen. All the legal documents and the ones that had been hidden. He wasn't a hacker for no reason.  
But it hadn't prepared him for this, not at one bit. This mystery that stood in front of him. Those eyes that saw through everything, the oldness of them, the wisdom that already was carried within. And yet this being was curious like a child, flipping through pages of history, of arts, sucking all of that information inside of himself, slowly processing it.

As he kept observing, he felt his cheek heat up and heart pound faster and faster within his chest cavity. Oh lord how he wanted to just lean forward and-  
"Heiji? Is everything alright? You don't have a fever do you?" worried words snapped him out of his thoughts, his daydream. And he panicked inwardly. Had he just... Fantasised about a man? An older one at that? Oh no no no no, good sir, Mizushima Heiji was very sure that he wasn't gay. Nu-uh. No chance. No. NO! Don't you dare to think about it! Ahh... You're thinking about it. Dammit.  
Heiji swallowed a nervously, his throat in fire from his sudden realisation of having hots for the older teen. His blue eyes kept looking up and down the male as he stated at him intensively. Worry, affection, confusion, fear, and.... Something else... That was what he thought that he saw in those amber eyes of Naoki. Naoki who was suddenly little too close to comfort.

"Don't move, Sun", the teen said as he closed his eyes and leaned closer. Heiji froze instantly, unsure of what was about to happen. He was so close. So close. Their foreheads were touching! Would he- should he-  
"Mm.. You do feel a little warm, but it's not actual fever.... Besides, both Sun and Coal users tend to have higher body temperature than the rest"

....... Ha?  
Wait.  
What just happened there?  
Did.  
Did Naoki just...  
Check if he had a fever? In weirdest way possible?

Heiji's cheeks turned into burning red as he thought back at it, and accompanied by the visual of one confused and worried Naoki, looking through half lidded and sleepy eyes, mouth slightly pouting.. It was...

While the younger boy kept staring at the teen, Naoki tilted his head in confusion.  
Heiji fainted right on the spot. He couldn't handle the boy's antics. It was too much. Way too much.  
Naoki looked at Cain, who just shrugged as an response, it wasn't his job to tell his boss that the newbie just started to crush on him. Let the man be oblivious and find out the most embarrassing way possible. 


	14. XIV

Naoki shifted uncomfortably on the stool he stood on as the woman was taking his measures. There were only few months left until the Ceremony of Beaulieu where he'd make his first official appearance, they had no time to waste.  
At the doorway, Yui was observing the tailor and her doings with sharp eyes, waiting for the boy to be freed so she could have a quick talk with the quickly growing boy.

It was about recruiting new people into Paravento. Over the past months, Yui had been pulling on several strings, called in favours and looked for certain kinds of people. People who needed help and were willing to help. She'd occasionally showed them for Naoki to be screened, but so far he hadn't approved many.

There had been one very unstable storm by the name Angelo Pavarotti, whom Naoki had immediately disqualified. The teen had later on explained that the young man gave him very bad feeling, there was something very messed up in that brain. And true to his intuition, Angelo proved himself to be one with a name. Mostly over his multiple treasons that had resulted in many messy deaths.

There had been a teenaged girl by the name Kazuha, whose obsessive nature was very uncomfortable to the Primo along with her not always thinking before she acted. Then there had been Kyoya, who'd turned out to be Valentino's missing Cloud, so for obvious reasons he couldn't be recruited. Mai had been gold digger type, trying to climb the ladder to success by charming people, so she couldn't be trusted.  
Despite the huge amount of disapproved members, there had been few who had managed to get in, like André, a timid French man, who had a good eye-hand-coordination, and Lucia, a young assassin in the making.  
Yui glanced at the door, hoping silently that this one would also get a pass.

"And there we go mister Paravento. Your new suit should be ready in two weeks", miss Miura said as she smiled at Naoki tenderly. He'd decided to use the name of the Famiglia when dealing with mafia business and the eye colour changing trick he'd recently learned from Nanami had come in handy. The teen stepped down from the pedestal, his senses picking up on the two extra people in the room.

The teen beelined to the smoke who lied in waiting for him and the other person he didn't recognise.

"Smoke", he stated with very business like voice, after all, he needed to make sure that he'd have his act together before the Ceremony. Yui bowed her head ever so slightly to her Fire. To her, Naoki wasn't exactly on the level of friend yet, he was more of a leader, and thus she respected his actions and decisions, only questioning them if they made no apparent sense. The illusionist gestured at the tall male next to her, who took a little too deep of a bow. Naoki stood there slightly confused, his hand extended for a shake as he'd noted that the newcomer was European. After a while of staring at the boy, he allowed his hand to drop, turning his attention to Yui, brows up in question.  
Yui moved weight from her left to the right foot uneasily, there was that soul scanning gaze again. She was certain that her illusions would do no good against them. Wait... Had Naoki even come across an illusion before? She needed to investig- ahh, we're getting off the track here.

"This is Arthur Hemsworth, though he prefers the name Galahad for some reason. I believe that he might fit into the Famiglia", "Any special talents? Known flames? Past records?", "He's turning 23 in May, a strong Lightning-Rain, also he claims to have something called Electrolysis Flame. His main weapon of choice appears to be a shield. The rest of the information are in the file I left on your desk".  
Naoki's eyes swept over the bo-man as he now properly took in his appearance. The short snowlike white hair that was styled neatly onto what most would call "Tamaki hair" framed his face creating an illusion of an older teen, his yellow eyes were sharp and awaiting for an order like an obedient Queen's Hound. He was dressed in rather old fashioned way, waistcoat and a bow tie, but it didn't really look bad on him. It actually made him look pretty good.

Naoki levelled his gaze with those yellow orbs that shone like two suns. There was only one thing left for him to do. "Your house is on fire and you can take out only one thing with you. What will you save?" the man's eyes flashed in thought, his mouth turned into a thin line, the lower lip soon finding itself to be bitten as the male tried to figure it out. Finally a resolution shone from his eyes. "The fire. I'd take out the fire. That way, anyone who might've been trapped there can be saved", he said firmly to Naoki, who smiled as he backed away. The young don looked at Yui as if she'd done something that the Famiglia could be more than proud of. "I like him. He's in."

The smoke guardian nodded, turning around and falling in step with the Don as he started to make his way back to the HQ. Her mind was buzzing with questions like "What made him choose as he did?" and "Why did he ask such an odd question?", however, the one that fell from her lips was "How are the renovations of our new HQ coming along?"

Naoki smiled and started to explain how they had gone, soon his other Guardians joining them with lists of furniture and items that were needed in Sicily. Heiji had gotten a lot more comfortable with them, taking liking to Xia He, who appeared to share his sense of humour, Cain, who he frequently bickered about over his own sexuality (Heiji was sure that he was straight, Cain called this bullshit) and Haruka, who appeared to share his love for memes.  
"I looked around the web and I found several little things that'll help us to reduce the price of the furnishing costs, but I'm not too sure about the weaponry. I think that we need to go to the scene itself to find a credible supplier", the youngest of the group said as he kept looking at the screen of his phone for the shops. Without missing a beat, Taran guided the boy away from the street lamp he nearly hit, the young man had zoned into the youngest and claimed him as his younger brother. "That is true, though I believe that we first need to get ourselves rings to take care of our current problem with flame management", Xia He said as she stepped next to the Don, she'd soon found herself to be the one to stand as the left hand man of the Fire while Haruka had claimed the right hand man spot. Technically speaking, Heiji was also on the higher spot as Naoki often asked for his opinion, but due to his young age he wasn't officially claiming any spots yet.

"What are our options?", "We have several alchemists at our disposal; Talbot from Sicily, Nicholas Flamel from Britain, Ge Hong of China, Cyrus Teed of United States and Anders from Northern Europe. There are also rumours of someone called Seppo living around the same area as Anders, but he is most likely to be a fairytale character"

Haruka perked at the sound of those names and leant closer. "You mean uncle Tal, uncle Nick, uncle Ge, and uncle Anders? I could send a message to them to come over", the group stopped and turned to look at the rich child in awe, who in turn blinked at this reaction.  
"What?", "I didn't know that you're related to them"  
"Oh, I'm not actually related to them at all, they're just affiliated with the company so I've known them since I was a baby. Jean also knows them, but he prefers not to talk with them. He feels uncomfortable around very old people", she explained as she kept walking forward, Naoki was sure that Tenoh Corp was secretly manufacturing weapons of mass destruction to the nations and the mafia. That was the only way they could have such ties. In reality these ancient men just wanted to keep in touch with the times and each other and needed to get themselves indestructible phones, you know how hazardous the work of an alchemist can be. All those boiling cauldrons and exploding gems, melting stone and hard acids... Very dangerous field of work indeed. It was no wonder that it was mostly men who were drawn to this field of magic and creation instead of women, who just so happened to have better sense of things than men and were over all more careful than they were. With few exceptions of course. Oh, but women were excellent crafters of gem induced items and had better solutions for things than men usually did. There was a reason why they gave up on iron armours and swords. The women were just so much better at actual science even if they were often discredited by their jealous workpartners who were afraid of intelligent women who refused to succumb to their whims.

Truly magnificent.

Naoki opened the door to his home, his Guardians, most of them already moving into his house, beelining to their respective parts of the house, Cain into his workshop that he'd been setting into the cellar, Nyx to the attic where they could be better in touch with the nature and its powers.  
Taran had made his home near the kitchen, his artistic soul yearning for the light of the the dawn, while Haruka was staring at the dusk. Xia He had also taken liking to the upper rooms, hers being in a place where she could make a quick escape to any direction possible. The only ones who hadn't moved in were Heiji and Yui. Heiji due to having a brother whom he lives with and Yui due to her being often needed with Baku as his cloud.

"How soon do you think you can call one of them here and who do you think would be the best one to handle our problem?", Naoki asked as he closed the door after Galahad and Jean, who were now talking quickly amongst themselves about their roles in the Famiglia. Jean himself had proven himself to be a wonderful shooter and thus would be in charge of training gunners from now on, Galahad hasn't yet been given any positions.  
"I'll invite uncle Nick, he's more knowledgeable about the stuff that revolves around Minerals and supernatural, uncle Tal knows a lot about flames, but he's more likely to not be familiar with our situation, he's younger than Nick. He should be here within two weeks if he has the time".  
Heiji glanced at Naoki with uncertainty in his eyes, there was something important he needed to ask, but it made him nervous. After a while of debating with himself, the teen decided to go for it anyway.  
"Um.. Primo? Can I stay here for the night? Kou won't be home tonight and I don't know how to cook myself yet-", "Sure? Where's your brother anyways?", "Well...."

Feeling the slender arms of his girlfriend around him felt good, it was as if he was being held by the Heaven itself. Light reflected from his dark helmet, concealing the happy smile that he had on his face. A sound of motorbike echoed on the street, bouncing from the buildings like an excited rabbit. He'd been waiting for this the whole week, his date with his loved one, his only one.  
Her name was Kobayashi Ai, she was the cousin of one of his former classmates from the high school. They'd met once at the school ball for the rich kids and he'd been instantly enamoured by her. Her red hair had been put onto a classy bun, with two decorative pieces attached to it, her face had been painted to look like dolls, her red fingernails matching her outfit.  
They'd later on run to one another at the university and Kousuke had rejoiced, he'd had the chance to get to know her better, be wrapped around her finger. Like a flower ring that some children made with their tiny hands.

And their romance had started from there.

Ai didn't know that he was a hacker, she was sweet and innocent, yet full of wisdom and serene like a fine painting. Her smile was mysterious, one could never know to whom she was exactly directing it. Her eyes were green like a fresh meadow or a Smaragd, captivating anyone who saw her. And she was fine with him not being interested in the other aspects of relationships other than romance. She accepted his lack of need for producing heirs and was actually glad of it being so. She was dead afraid of pregnancies, having lost her own mother in birth of her stillborn sister.

She also accepted his name change, his secretive nature and nature that didn't always think about the consequences. It kept her life exciting and new, like playing Russian roulette with steamed buns.

To the eye of a commoner, Kousuke seemed to be your normal man, albeit a bit odd, to a hardcore fujoshi he seemed like a closeted gay. But on the inside, he was anything but. He'd forced himself to learn how to control his lack of concentration, he'd learned how to cope with the sudden bursts of adrenaline, he'd learned to stay calm and collected in most cases, only those who he sent messages to knew how he could get sometimes. And by sometimes I mean at the most inconvenient time.  
And yet, Ai loved him with this trait. Kousuke pulled to the side, where he'd previously set up a table for them, on the mountain side. He'd wanted to take her see the view for a long time, but hadn't had the chance before. Her cousin had been around too much, making him to make silly oaths. Then the Ring Battles had ensued, and the leader of CEDEF had tried to approach him. For Iemitsu to think that he'd join the Vongola... It was utterly foolish. He'd have to try better than that to get him interested.  
The man got off the bike, releasing himself from the helmet as he so did, and watched how the love of his life ran to the table squealing in delight. It'd taken him a while to set up the food and drinks and to make sure that nothing would attempt to eat them while he was picking up the woman. He smiled lovingly, a tiny box in his pocket, waiting for the perfect opportunity. It all had to be just perfect, otherwise he wouldn't be able to do it right.

".... He's on a date? He actually has a girlfriend?" Naoki asked his eyes wide in disbelief, Heiji shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, he's been dating her for couple of years and I think that he might propose to her soon, but at the same time he might not....he's... Perfectionist in this case. Which is rare of him", the blue eyed boy explained uneasily, he really didn't know how to describe what his brother's standing was with romantic things. Haruka leaned over the table to look at Naoki, tilting her head as she so did. There was a dangerous thought forming in her head.  
"Hey Nao, have you ever thought about getting together with a girl and have kids?"  
Naoki froze instantly, his facial expression being that of a deer's in headlights, the Paravento turned on their boss as he started to turn red slowly, but surely. The attention, the additional questions that the question brought, it was all too pressuring. Even more so when he didn't exactly act like one would expect a man to act. He showed tenderness more than what was usual, he showed concern and empathy more than was advised, to many he striked as one of the three: naive, gay or foolish.

The young man struggled to find words to use in order to answer. This wasn't something he'd expected to hear this soon, not from his Famiglia, his friends. He actually hadn't thought about it before, hadn't had the time to, he'd been too concerned over his potential death and training to take notice on either of two genders he'd been presented with as his choice. He was convinced that he didn't mind either one, but the thought of actually needing to start a family, to continue his line, was a stressful one.  
"I haven't thought of that before Haru... I.. Um.. I guess that I'll need to have an heir, but at the same time.. Isn't there.. I don't know.. Is it possible to have a child without the hassle...?", he was too young to think about this goddammit. And he already knew that his own mother had everything planned starting from what he'd wear to the season he'd have a wedding on. Haruka clasped her hands together in delightful manner, her facial expression revealing that she had something more mischievous on her mind.  
"Okay but, do you like boy or girls?" the cross dresser asked while Galahad covered his mouth on the background in shock. This wasn't something one usually spoke of amongst other people. And once again Naoki grew silent in thought, but this time around, it was clear that he was thinking hard. His expression shifting according to his thoughts until he left out a desperate howl.

"I don't know! I've never needed to think about this before! They're both beautiful okay?!?"  
The Don buried his face into his hands, his ears red as the sun after a massacre, voice whimpering like a hurt puppy. It was too much for him, he just couldn't, couldn't choose, couldn't not choose. Haruka pat his shoulder smiling apologetically, she hadn't meant the other one to have such revelations like this, but at the same time... She did want certain someone to know that he did indeed have a chance.  
"Hey, Nao? The rings will be on me, okay? I didn't mean to upset you", "I'll be okay in a few.."

The bi-awakening is always a confusing experience.


	15. XV

It was itchy. Too itchy.  
Naoki wanted to scratch his nose, but he knew that he couldn't without Haruka deciding to take revenge on his being.  
The reason?  
Haruka had tackled him that morning in order to give him something called "a contour" in order to enhance his masculine traits and to make him appear to be slightly older than he was. And if he'd choose to scratch his nose or brow, it'd ruin the effort of the Ash Guardian completely.  
The young don now held a newly found appreciation towards women and their willpower to resist the urge to touch their faces after applying makeup.

The most insane thing about all of this? _You didn't realise that he was wearing any makeup_.

They had now few hours to get through before the ceremony, they all had flown first to Syracuse where the Vindice had handed them the keys to their newly furnished headquarters. And by all we are talking about everyone who was part of the Paravento. Haruka's personal maid/caretaker Natalia had also joined them, but decided to stay at the HQ to familiarise herself with it and to take care of it while they attended the Beaulieu Ceremony.  
Currently they were in the city of Millau, Midi Pyrenés, France, more precisely in the hotel restaurant, enjoying a cup of coffee while going over the plan.  
As Baku was also invited, Yui was expected to be by his side to complete his Guardian Set, and thus they all were slightly on the edge.  
Galahad sat there next to Cain, nervously going through what he was to do during this first entrance. He'd become the official driver as he was the only one with a license to drive a car, plus his highly protective flames were useful for creating an invisible, impenetrable shield around objects. For this grand entrance, only Dons and their Guardians were expected to arrive.  
Naoki took out a series of tiny jewellery boxes out of his bag, handing them over to his Guardians, who accepted the boxes quietly.  
"You need to wear these from this day onward, never taking them off unless absolutely necessary", the male said with a serious tone, alerting the group of the nature of the matter, "Yui already has hers". Inside each box was a ring, each ring carrying a different coloured stone. The Paravento Rings.

Malachite for Spark  
Tanzanites for Smoke and Heat  
Iolite for Ash  
Lapis lazuli for Glow  
Rubellite for inferno  
Topaz for Coal  
Oregon sunstone for Fire

The stones that worked the best for their flames weren't usually seen in the hands of those who wielded flames, but they also made sure that they couldn't be used by anyone who didn't have the same flames as they did. The group put them on, feeling the sense of belonging hit them hard, Xia He had to even hold back her tears.

 _One hour before the ceremony_.

They all got into the limousine, they'd practiced how to get in and how to get out of it in a way that made people think that they knew what they were doing. Apparently, their appearance would be announced similar to the way royals did. They needed to be ready, the Allies would be watching them.

Timoteo Vongola furrowed his brows, as the leader of Vongola he had been able to request for the list of attendees for this meeting, and received it immediately as Beaulieu was desperate keep good relations to the biggest mafia family.  
The old man knew the names on the list. Almost all of them.  
What had him confused was that one single unfamiliar name near the bottom of the list.  
"Paravento".  
He'd never heard of this famiglia before, and there wasn't much information available of them.  
Apparently, this group was very young and small one, but there was already some not so small feats recorded of the famiglia.  
They'd been able to take over the region of Syracuse within very short period of time, quickly building their headquarters in the region. The leader of the group had received the blessing of the Sumiyoshi-Kai and thus has been permitted stay in Namimori for the time being and managed to create an alliance between his group, Allegri and Beaulieu.  
Timoteo stared at the name in silence, wondering what kind of person he was to meet soon.

"Allegri Septimo and his Guardians!"  
Valentino took a deep breath and smiled as he started to walk down the stairs, his amethyst like eyes scanning the crowd for familiar faces. He saw Tetsuya and Baku staring at the European mafioso with unimpressed looks, the two had claimed that they wouldn't be attempting to hide their opinion of them. Naoki hadn't yet arrived yet? Darn.  
Accompanied by his newly completed Guardian set, the Don to be made a beeline to his two friends, who immediately did a 180 upon his arrival.

A jet black limousine pulled over to the sidewalk, right in front of the door. A servant opened the door for the last visitor. A black haired man with piercing blue eyes stepped out of the vehicle, taking a look around before stepping to the side. The servant swallowed. Five more people came out in the similar manner, the last one signaling to the last remaining person in the car. To the surprise of the poor servant, it was a short Asian man, most likely in his late teens, with a gravity defying hair and orange eyes, who exited the car.  
He was very much sure that he'd already seen a Vongola representative arrive.  
The group walked to the door.

"Paravento Primo and his Guardians!"  
Upon hearing the final announcement, the older mafiosi turned their heads to look at the staircase, this new name wasn't expected. Timoteo heard audible gasps go about, intriguing him to Also take a look at the newcomer. Upon seeing them however, the old man was ready to faint.

It was Tsuna.  
But at the same time, it wasn't.  
This person was older, taller, more confident, sharper looking, and supported black hair instead of chestnut brown.  
Just who was this boy...?  
From the group next to him, he could hear the voice of the yakuza leader speak, "Finally someone who isn't trash".

Naoki descended the stairs, not caring about the looks he received. It took all of his energy to keep himself calm and collected looking, and this ceremony would be taking hours before it was over, he needed to make this be a success. The teen made sure that he was seen, that he was walking in a dignified way, not slouching, not too fast nor too slowly. He spotted his fellow young Dons and smiled at them gently.

Timoteo was beyond intrigued by this young man and how professionally he was handling the situation, he'd asked around and was now aware that the boy had been a civilian. He was watching at a young stag walk into a room filled with predators, without showing any signs of backing down nor nervousness. As his eyes stayed on the boy, the said new Don smiled at something.  
The change in the room was instantaneous.  
Many of those who had previously been on guard and tense relaxed visibly. The room appeared to become more spacious while also starting to carry that homey atmosphere of invitation and warmth. The change also showed in his own Guardians. Nougat and Coyote started to mirror the facial expression of the teenager who was now walking towards the yakuza group, still smiling warmly.  
Different people of different groups made room for the boy as he walked, even some of the Dons making way to the youngest leader among them.

"What a dangerous power....", Timoteo muttered as the raven joined his friends, immediately relaxing himself, "So this is Paravento".

Naoki greeted the trio politely, who then answered to him with equal level of politeness. The teen took a glance at the people who were there with him, noticing one unknown woman standing near Tetsuya. He glanced at the male his brows shot up. "Airi, my true Sun", the Supreme Leader said as he gestured towards the woman, who bowed. Upholding their yakuza traditions, both Sumiyoshi-Kai and Suzaku members were dressed in traditional Japanese clothes of kimono, hakama and hitatare, looking slightly off within the sea of suits and dresses.

The woman glanced at Haruka, her brows furrowing as she tried to figure out what exactly she was seeing there. And it was no wonder. Because today was the day, the glorious day, when Haruka was wearing a femme suit look and rocking it. Eat your heart out mister Tenoh, we're reclaiming the suit look.  
The heir of the corporation was wearing a striped tux with a dark vest and a purple tie, the sleeves of the said tux held three golden buttons each and the whole look was completed by a pair of striped skinny trousers and beautiful dark purple stilettos. Haruka's hair was now also styled to the side and they were wearing a pair of golden earrings. After a while of staring, the woman looked to the side, clearly not wanting to be judged due to her staring at the person of the questionable gender. Naoki noted the weird look, but didn't think too much of it, he was way more interested in Yui staring at Airi in obvious adoration. Huh... He'd never thought about that possibility before. Well... Each of them their own. After all, he was still trying to figure himself out, it was no use trying to also pester others over their own preferences, that would be just unnecessarily stressful.

"Oh! Naoki, there's someone who you need to meet", Valentino suddenly exclaimed, leading Naoki towards a flock of Dons, "Most of the people here are a lot older than we are, but there are actually few who are bit younger and only few years older". The duo stopped in front of a blonde man with brown eyes, Naoki was sure that he'd seen him somewhere prior to this moment. Valentino stepped between them, gesturing towards the man with his right hand. "Naoki, this is Cavallone Dino, the Tenth boss of Cavallone Famiglia. Cavallone Decimo, this is Naoki, Paravento Primo".  
Dino and Naoki stared at one another for a few seconds, both sure of seeing one another somewhere before. Dino was the first one to offer his hand for a shake. "A pleasure to meet you Paravento", Naoki took his hand and shook it firmly, "Likewise, Cavallone". Dino's mind kept attempting to figure out why the boy he was talking to seemed so frustratingly familiar while Valentino introduced Naoki to none other than Naito Tomaso, who was more than excited to meet another teenage boss.  
"You haven't yet met the current boss of the Vongola have you?" Cavallone suddenly asked from Naoki, who shook his head as an answer. "I am still learning how to work in this community and thus didn't wish to appear as rude due to my ignorance", an honest answer that surprised Dino made its way into the ears of Timoteo, who couldn't believe his ears. Dino turned towards Timoteo, silently asking if it was alright for him to approach the elder, which he was granted with a tiny nod. Naoki trailed after the Cavallone Decimo, until the older man stopped in front of an old timer with grey, ever so slightly spiky hair. With amused look in his eyes, Timoteo watched how the younger male first corrected his own posture instinctively and bowed in his presence, it was clear how this boy had been brought up.

"Vongola Nono, Paravento Primo"

Xia He kept an eye on her boss, now that she'd been around him and the rest of the group for months, she had grown to appreciate them and the freedom they were giving her. But the freedom was also very odd thing for her to have, for the first month of living in the Oda Residence, she had been pacing back and forth for hours waiting for Naoki to tell her what to do. There weren't any missions nor enemies to take care of. All she could potentially do was to hone her skills and learn how to harvest her actual flame.  
Haruka had been teaching her how to do makeup too, that had helped her to feel a little better, more like her actual age was, more in control. Empowered. And then she'd noticed how her gaze shifted on other women whenever she did what Haruka called "shopping" the genderqueer had soon become her best friend and the duo went often out to experience things that they hadn't been allowed to experience before. Like watching movies, shopping on their own, trying new flavours. But how she felt the attraction towards women was alarming to her, she didn't know what to think of it.  
Back at China, when under the influence of the Triads, she'd learned that people who found their own sex to be appealing for them were unworthy, unclean, and needed to be immediately disposed of. She wouldn't have been allowed to live even one day would anyone had ever even suspected that of her. But with this mismatched group....

There weren't rules like that. The lack of restrictions terrified her.

The assassin noticed a beautiful looking woman standing near the buffet table, her long and delicate looking fingers placing appetisers onto the wooden piece of furniture, careful as to neither drop anything nor to make too much of a noise. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of the woman in a suit, her long hair up on a tight bun and glasses. She looked well redd. Scholar perhaps?  
Xia He decided to approach the woman later.

Naoki stared at the scene with great interest. How the rule over Beaulieu was passed forward ceremoniously to the young Donna, Suri, who was wearing a light green and white ball gown. He was adoring the decorations and the level of detail that had been put to it, the carefully picked flowers that were tied onto the banners, the almost wedding like scenario, the beautiful incarnations that were uttered, the hair clip that was passed forward along with a ring.  
Suri wouldn't be coming to Japan after this for a long time, she needed to be near her Famiglia and get used to things. It actually felt a bit conflicting for the raven as he both wanted her to stay away from him with her still trying to bond with his flames, but he didn't want to lose her friendship, she meant a lot to him. And by the way Tetsuya was looking at her, it was clear that he didn't really want her to go either. Over the course of the time Naoki had learned the truth behind Tetsuya pushing her away. It wasn't that he didn't have a crush on her, but that he wasn't allowed to marry a foreigner and the Family had already decided on who his bride would be. The girl would actually be moving into the estate soon so they could get to know one another.  
It was sad, but understandable thing, Tetsuya was the next Supreme Leader and thus he had a role to fill and duties to execute flawlessly.  
Naoki allowed his mind to wander, taking in the appearances of the older Dons who he'd been introduced earlier, his eyes soon searching the Vongola and staying on him.

_"Paravento Primo? So you're completely new to the mafia. Which Famiglia do you originate from?" the old man asked him kindly, but Naoki knew that the man also knew that he wasn't actually of mafia origin. Lying would be futile. "I am afraid that I am what you may refer to as civilian born, Vongola Nono sir", he bit his tongue as he realised how he sounded. Timoteo's brows shot up._   
_"So you somehow came to be knowledgeable of flames and decided on creating your own group?", "I'd rather not speak of the experience itself, it wasn't the most... Pleasant one"_   
_The grey man glanced at the yakuza, he needed to know more about the teen and how he was networked. Maybe his family line was connected to Iemitsu's. "I hear that you're an ally of the Sumiyoshi-Kai", he started, guiding the conversation in hopes of getting his answers. Naoki saw what the man was doing, but didn't bother with trying to keep the man away. He saw that the old man was too entitled due to his position. "Not exactly, I am a friend of the next Supreme Leader, not the syndicate itself. You of all people should be aware of the great difference between the two"_   
_Dino and Valentino watched How the two played their little mind game, both of the blondes knowing that the two Dons were aware of one another knowing that the other one knew that they knew what they were trying to know. You know? It was like watching a game of chess, expect more.... Social._

_"How did your family take this?"_   
_"They aren't aware of this. It's for their own good."_   
_"Not even cousin?"_   
_"As far as I know, I don't have any."_

_The old man couldn't just ask the question and be done with it could he._

_"No uncles or aunts?"_   
_"Both of my parents are only childs. As for my grandparents, I can't ask from them anymore"_   
_"Why not?"_   
_"They are resting six feet under."_

Naoki's hand slipped into his pocket, his fingers going over the edges of the business card he'd received. It was a little bit too thick to be your normal card, it wasn't your traditional cardboard either. This one was plastic. All the more easier to implant a bug into for spying purposes. He'd need to wink Cain about it.

The ceremony came to an end before the teen could even notice, causing him to blink couple times. He'd hadn't meant to zone out like that. The sea of suits and dresses slid back indoors, ready to take any refreshments it could find in order to quench its thirst and growing hunger.

Suri stayed behind along with Tetsuya, Baku, Valentino and Naoki, who came to her in order to congratulate her in person. They'd also sent their little presents earlier to celebrate, but that wasn't the same thing. The Donna was glowing with pride and happiness as they walked side by side through the door to the noticeably cooler indoors.  
To their surprise however, they were approached by Cavallone Dino, who they soon found to be leaning over Naoki.  
"You can expect an invitation to Palermo to arrive in couple of days. Timoteo wants to have you under his thumb and become an ally to their Decimo."

Couldn't he even once have a normal day?


	16. XVI

The group had finally returned to Namimori, leading to some slightly awkward moments with those who hadn't gone with them. Mainly Jean, who hadn't realised that Haruka had hired Mammon as their body double for nearly every meeting they were supposed to have with their father, transferring only the vital information about the meetings and leading the Tenoh Corp to the heir themselves. Mists really were something else. Though now that they were back, they could clearly see that something was bothering Naoki. And this wasn't just their sudden invitation to the Vongola HQ.

_Naoki stared forward, not allowing any emotion to climb onto his face and expose how he truly felt about the situation. He was now face to face with none other than Vongola Nono, the most powerful God Father of Cosa Nostra. Sure, he was surrounded by his friends, but he also was surrounded by much more experienced people who could wipe him and his little Famiglia effortlessly as if they were brushing hair away from their faces._ _He had no idea as to why they'd been summoned there, after all they weren't anything too out of ordinary. Just a group of people, who sought for what they'd never had been given upon their birth. Family, happiness, sense of belonging, being trusted, the ability to move on. They just wanted to be who they were._

_"You've already managed to become the talk of the Cosa Nostra, young Don", the elderly Don congratulated the teen as he slid several newspapers, most likely from the past year, through the table to him. Naoki stared at the headlines emotionlessly, but in the inside he was screaming in confusion.  
_ _Since when had criminals had their own newsletter provided for every Famiglia? And more importantly who did he need to get a hold of to start his own subscription?_

_"A mysterious group wipes out the Godfather of Syracuse! Vigilante group or Mafia?"_   
_"Costello Famiglia's lies exposed!"_   
_"Vindice offers the position of Godfather to Paravento!"_   
_"10 things_ _you_ _should know about the new mafia family!"_   
_"Paravento denies ten more applicants! Here's why!"_   
_"These mafiosi shone at the Beaulieu Inheritance Ceremony! Top ten looks from the Green Carpet! Who is the mysterious Vongola Primo lookalike?"_

_Naoki cringed at the headlines, just were they made to be so dramatic? It wasn't like they had done anything weird had they? Also who the hell was Vongola Primo and why was he being compared to them?_   
_Slowly, the teen lift his eyes from the papers with unimpressed look on his face, staring directly into the brown eyes of the Vongola. "I see that it has been rather quiet in the criminal world", "What makes you say that?", "These overly dramatic headlines and how they appear to be revolving around only one thing."  
_ _Naoki made another glance at the newspaper, his eyes looking for the name of the writer._   
_"Code Terra huh.... That's interesting.. Who else are working for this I wonder...", he mused to himself, memorising the name of the newspaper.  
_ _"Notizie Criminali is run by the Bellini Famiglia, a grey mafia family, the sections you're currently looking at are called Fiamma", Naoki snorted at the name, could it be any more obvious what the paper contained, "Our professionals aren't entirely sure of how they manage to get all of their information".  
_ _"Well, a good reporter is always where things are happening, and if you're a strong mist that shouldn't be a hard trick to pull", Naoki retorted as one of Timoteo's servants brought them food. While his much older companions were nonchalant over the woman, the younger generation was staring at this uncomfortably aware of this being another trick to showcase power and establish superiority._

_Older people tended to be like that, they had this need to feel superior compared to their youngers when in reality the younger people were the ones who actually knew what they were usually talking about. They had higher educations._   
_"So... Why exactly did you wish to meet with us? Surely a man of your calibre has better things to do than look after his youngers", Primo asked coolly, yet hurrying the meeting to be over with. There was something in this man that he didn't like. It wasn't that the man was bad, he just was... inflexible. Too set in his ways.  
_ _Timoteo blinked at the boy's eagerness,_ _it wasn't usual of someone who was supposedly from a civilian background to be reacting like this. Coyote snarled quietly at the insolence of the teenager, who was sitting all too calmly at the center of his Guardians. Timoteo blinked, bringing himself back to reality. "Ah, well... I was interested in your achievements and hoped to see you as an ally in the f"-, the teen's eyes hardened at this notion and he was soon to cut the elder off rather rudely. "You mean become a dog that you are free to command as you please. For that, I must decline, I am not willing to tie my people down into a contract that takes away the freedom they have been fighting for for years"._

_Naoki leaned back in his chair, creating the image of him being comfortable in it, comfortable and confident. On the inside he was screeching at his doings and insolent actions. "My Famiglia has only one agenda and that is to shield the innocent from the darker side of the humanity. But my own personal agenda is different, and I will not compromise it for the sake of anything as silly as becoming a lackey of an older mafia family", his voice was cold as ice and eyes hard as a stone, quietly shining with the flames that he held within. It was clear that he was angry, but it was also clear that he was very much in control.  
_ _Heiji placed his hand on the shoulder of the upset leader, almost immediately diffusing his rising anger, but also showing support. Timoteo was fascinated by this action and how pure it was, the group seemed to share an exceptionally strong bonds with one another. The young Don stood up. "Vongola Nono, if there comes a time when I am face to face with your successor, would they showcase kindness and honour, ability to truly understand how their actions impact others, I will offer my friendship to them. But for you... I cannot do that, you aren't ready to allow us to search for our own ways first, nor are you giving us the needed flexibility within your offer"._

_Timoteo watched how the boy turned at him, eyes revealing purple colour to them, making the old man flinch ever so slightly. "I am not your regular sky, Timoteo Vongola, I refuse to be tied down", ah how masterful that silent threat was, how subtle and oh so effective. For the boy to keep that card hidden in his sleeve for this long, for him to have this excessive control over his flames.... Just where did he learn it from?  
_ _The Paravento left the Vongola Headquarters, feeling relaxed, yet being careful of how they threaded from now on. While they hadn't exactly gained an enemy of Vongola, they weren't exactly in friendly position with them either. But then again... They had made themselves clear._

Naoki stared at the horizon thoughtfully, clearly bothered by something. It could've been the way how he'd treated Timoteo, called off his actual goal with his so called "Alliance Offer", but it could've also been how certain people seemed to have gone missing.  
The raven's gaze landed on a duo of girls, he'd heard of them previously from his Coal guardian.

Sasagawa Kyoko, the victim of the Pretty Girl Syndrome, the school idol of Namichuu. Younger sister of the Vongola's tenth Sun Guardian. According to the little nerdish boy, there wasn't even one boy in their school who didn't idolise her and worship the ground she walked on. The girls though? She wasn't really that liked amongst them as she was popular and pretty, she actually had only one female friend, Kurokawa Hana. A sad fate.  
And then there was Miura Haru who Heiji had only seen tag along with Sawada's group.

The two seemed to be worried over something.... Or someone.

Naoki got up from his stone seat, he'd been sitting on the wall that separated his house from the rest of the world, and decided to call out to them.  
The two girls turned around just in time to see him land on the ground and take couple balancing steps forward. Two sets of large and confused eyes were locked on him, mouths were opened.  
"No, I am not Sawada. First of all I'm couple years older than he is and probably taller too"  
He then walked to them, making sure to keep a little distance between himself and the two middle school students. "Naoki Oda, high school student, second year", he said and bowed ever so slightly, Mama didn't raise an impolite boy, "Is everything okay? You seem to be worried". Kyoko was the first one to recover from the sudden introduction, soon telling the teen her name. "Well... A group of our friends has gone missing..", "Who?"  
Kyoko, the sweet sweet Kyoko, was the type who couldn't lie to anyone, yet she wasn't too keen on making people look too much into her direction either in her call for help. It was actually pretty typical of people like her. People who were idolised yet scorned at the same time. Naoki noted how she wasn't standing too close to Haru either, as if she was afraid of her attacking her. Girls had a lot crueler bullying backgrounds than boys did for the most part. The invisible scars that were inflicted on their minds never really faded, both the society and the women themselves enforcing the unsaid rules of the dagger of a tongue being the best weapon in the night. The poisonous words could burn a deep hole into person, deep enough to break them eventually.

This girl was almost broken.

"It's Tsuna, Gokudera, Reborn and Yamamoto! They've gone missing!" Naoki noted the usage of the honorifics, which was rather unusual of someone who saw themself as a friend of the group members. So.... Haru wasn't yet entirely sure whether she was their friend in actuality or not. Perhaps she met them just recently?  
The young adult invited the girls inside, an offer they were unable to say no to, as it seemed to be starting to rain soon. While Naoki himself loved the rain, how it was calming with its song of raindrops and overall atmosphere, he was sure that the two girls wouldn't really appreciate to be soaked to the bone. Sure, he was as of the moment having visitors, Baku was there to talk with him about something, but he was sure that the Sky wouldn't mind.

"Hahi! A dangerous person!" Haru exclaimed as she took a step back after encountering the cold eyes of the yakuza leader staring at her unkindly. Naoki looked at the older teen, who was now staring at him his brows shot up, feet on top of the table. He narrowed his eyes.  
"Baku. Living meat off the table."  
Baku's brows furrowed angrily as he did as his host had demanded of him, his teeth bared in a snarl. Hard to believe that he was the leader of a group named after a fire bird god, huh.  
"What are they doing here. They are with the Vongola", he said with an accusing tone, causing the raven to shot him a warning look. "They are civilians, Suzaku, they aren't aware of who or what they are dealing with", "A friend of Vongola makes them Vongola", "These two aren't even active. Also you better clean up the mess on my table, I can't believe that you walked in with your shoes on"  
After the first public appearance, Baku had been acting more hostile for some reason. It wasn't certain what had caused it, but Tetsuya had stated that it had to do with the Notizie Criminali headlines. According to the supreme leader, Baku had been attempting to get something onto the pages of the paper for months, but it had been no avail. Donna Bellini had shot him down time and time again, choosing to publish more interesting articles instead.  
And then Naoki had made his debut, hijacking the headlines of the Fashion segment, the Fiamma segment AND the headlines without much effort all thanks to him just appearing.

Naoki watched how the angry blonde swept the table clean, muttering to himself about his position as a leader of his group and thus not needing to do such trivial tasks in his life. The raven then motioned the two girls take a seat while he sat opposite of them, fully aware of Haruka taking out the tea set so they could offer refreshments to their new guests.  
He glanced at Baku one last time, he might as well have this all over with. "So, what exactly did you need to see me for?" he asked curiously as the teen stomped his way back to the table to have a seat and steal slice of the offered strawberry shortcake. "The upcoming stuff. You know. Tetsuya wants you to be present at the inheritance, then there's the formal alliance papers to be signed and we need to have a talk about how you will be forming your alliances with the westerners", the strawberry blonde said, biting into an actual strawberry vengefully.  
Naoki gave a side glance at the two girls, who were now paying attention to Haruka, talking about how cute the tea cups were and about the cake. Haru's overly active and dramatic reactions bothered him a lot, they didn't feel sincere, they felt.... Desperate. As if she thought that as long as she acted overly friendly, helpful and funny, she wouldn't be thrown to the side. His eyes narrowed as a thought entered his mind.

 _Could it be_?

"Well, I already declined the offer of the Vongola Nono regarding an alliance, the way they treated the Cavallone made me think about a lackey rather than a leader of ma- Cosa Nostra. But if the Decimo does offer his own version of an alliance, I am willing to consider it. Same goes for the Cavallone, would they offer me a good alliance offer, I would accept with the condition of keeping our autonomy"  
Baku nodded in agreement, the treatment of the Cavallone Decimo was rather odd and out of question, especially with the Vongola Nono being the one to pull the strings. He opened his mouth to ask a question, but-

"Decimo.. You mean Tsuna? A lot of people call him that for some reason", the duo of fresh criminals jolted on their seats, not expecting the interruption. Kyoko stared at them as if asking if she did something wrong by voicing her thoughts, ultimately shrinking down on her seat. Just how did they manage to forget her being there.  
Baku's eyes flashed with interest as he turned to look at the girl properly. He nudged Naoki's side with his elbow. "Nao.. She doesn't have a presence", he said silently to his fellow boss, who duly nodded, still shook over forgetting that she was there.  
"I.. Uh... Maybe? I've never met the guy? And there are a lot of people who are called that in the group of people I'm working with hahaha", god he was horrible liar. He was. Sweating bullets. "Yes, for example there is this guy known as Valentino in our class, his nickname is Septimo. And then there's his cousin who's also known as Mittsu or something so together they're seven and three", Baku rushed to explain his own views, which honestly didn't help much. The two girls nodded as if it made the most sense and Naoki wanted to cry over how easy they were to distract. He turned his attention on the girls fully now that he knew what Baku wanted, his mind slowly building profiles of the two as they chatted with his Ash Guardian. Just listening to them told him a lot of them.  
Haru admitted that her first friend was an infant called... Reborn? Huh.. That's an odd name. And that she'd then befriended Tsuna soon after, confirming what the young Primo had suspected.

Haru Miura grew up friendless, surrounded by adults. She knew how to be around people who were older than she was, but she had no clue of how to be with her peers.  
"And so Haru decided to take notes from anime to see how she was supposed to act with people!" wait what? Haru. That's not how it works-- no seriously, someone please tell this girl that's not how you teenager. I mean sure, I never learned how to people either but God dammit Haru. Naoki sweat dropped at the girl's bold exclamation, while Haruka's smile frozen onto their face while the rest of the said face seemed to want nothing to do with that said face and was currently signing both divorce papers and disownment papers just in case. "Haru... I'm not too sure that's not how it works...", the ashe blonde said, still smiling that disowned and divorced smile of theirs. "Hahi?", "Usually people are actually more drawn towards people who seem to be more mature and adult like, because they seem cool", "Hahi! Haru made a mistake"

Naoki carefully poured himself a cup of tea, dropping exactly one sugar cube into it to get the bitterness melt down. "Usage of third person when referring to self is also something that people usually don't do", he said softly as he stirred the tea with the tiny teaspoon. Both of the girls stared at him in confusion for a while. Too long if you asked him.  
"But... How can Haru make sure that Haru isn't left behind?"  
Naoki smiled at her kindly, mentally screaming as he had actually no idea of what he was doing nor if he was doing it right. "Just be yourself and relax, let your friends see how smart you really are and that you are more than your current appearance. This goes for you too Sasagawa", surely it was the right answer, right? Even if it was a scary thing to do. Nobody really wants to show their true self to others, even less wish to be outed because of it. But being able to exist and not care of the opinions of others was also freeing and more relaxed than constantly being afraid of your mask cracking and you ending up as the punchline for the joke someone else is telling.

As the two girls left his house, a lot calmer than when they had arrived, Naoki could only hope that they'd have the courage to talk about it to the others soon and stop pretending that they were just cute porcelain dolls on the shelf. Only to be seen, never to be touched nor heard, beautiful, perfect, cold, lifeless.  
As he turned away from the road, Naoki failed to see a cloud of pink smoke that rouse from the street corner, where the girls had just stood.


	17. XVII

_He was running, but he didn't know where to, neither was he aware of where from. Or from what nor who. All he knew is that he was running. There was danger, horrifying danger, that he knew he couldn't beat on his own, his family wouldn't be able beat it on his own. His feet carried him over to a room, a ballroom of all things, with light, almost see through curtains._

_There were ashes on the floor._

_And mixed within the ashes were the clothes and rings._

_He felt his legs give in. This couldn't be true. Those piles of ash.. Those.. Those.._   
_Cain_   
_Haruka_   
_Heiji_   
_Nyx_   
_Taran_   
_Xia_

_**It couldn't be**._

_He wanted to scream, but he had no voice to scream with, his pain and loss was left unvoiced. And the fire in his veins was burning brighter and brighter, hotter, hotter than it should. His hands reached for the two swords on his sides, tied to his hip, as he heard the thing laugh, as it drew closer. Naoki turned around, a cape following his lucid movements. The fire was burning his feet, his shoes were already smoking. Whatever it was that the intruder had done to him, to them, it was already taking effect. And it worked fast._   
_His tears were boiling in his eyes, burning him to blindness, his body combusting, fire coming off of the seams of his clothes, his tongue tasting the ash he was turning into. He attacked._

_**And became the fire**._

Hazel eyes zapped open as their holder felt the cold feeling of loss and grief seeping into his heart. That was too real to be just a dream. From around him, he sensed the rest of his people move, waking up with the same ache in their hearts. Those who were staying with him soon found their way to his bedroom, one by one climbing into his bed with tear stained faces, those who lived away sent their flames to him. Spoke to him.  
"Nao... I held bodies of two kids, twins, I think they were mine. I even knew their names, Elias and Elisa, and I failed. I couldn't protect them..." Naoki closed his eyes, hearing the sore whisper of Heiji, his flames relying the speech to him. All around him, he heard them whisper. "I was pregnant", "I... I... You.. I couldn't..", "It burns.. It hurts so much", "So scared", "He got me"  
All he could do for now was to extend his area of effect, how far his aura, his flames could reach, and attempt to soothe down the people he sensed to be in pain, to be sad.  
At this point, he didn't even care if he was found anymore. He had to help someway. He had to do SOMETHING.   
Sure, it was just a nightmare, nothing out of the ordinary, but it was also too real. The aching was too real.

As he kept sending off his flames to the world like a hotspot, he touched something that he hadn't felt before.

It was a sky flame, that was for sure, but it wasn't exactly the same as the ones he'd encountered before.  
Most skies were friendly flames, even Nana's flame was even if it was unpredictable and dangerous to flames around her, they wanted people to come to them, to establish a bond or hierarchy.  
But this one? Not so much.

This sky flame was actively giving off a signal of danger to people around it, warning them to stay away from the source. It was unwelcoming and brash. Violent and destructive.  
Very much different from the Vongolian flames Naoki had learned to know rather well as courtesy of every now and then brushing against Sawada Nana and her son. It was the opposite of the soft flames that Valentino had, unbalanced unlike Tetsuya's, not too controlled unlike Baku's flames were.  
They lacked the soft flame component completely, they were just hard flames. And hard flames were more proun for destruction than the soft flames were. They didn't bond the same way either. Hard flames required inverted flames to be in their set. And even then, it wasn't the sky flame that ruled over that specific set. Oh no. It was the cloud. Clouds in general had the potential to develop a harmony factor would the cloud in question be nourished enough and given certain conditions, inverted clouds were born with this ability. But it begged for a very peculiar set and even then they didn't exactly require a set like their sky counterparts did.

In the living room where the he'd previously crashed on, Iemitsu grinned as he felt the flame wash over him. So this was the Paravento kid his boss had told been the one to decline their generous offer for alliance? Not on his watch! He would make the Family proud and get this boy see their side of things! JUST WAIT AND SEE! HE'D DO IT!

Naoki felt a shiver go down to his spine, but he was soon lulled to sleep by the warmth of his Guardians, still letting out the flames he'd been radiating this whole time.

Valentino sat up in his place of stay, surprised to feel the flames of Naoki reach him so far from the center. He too had had a nightmare just now, a nightmare where he was holding his own cloud guardian Kyouya (not to be confused with Kyoya, the length of the o - sound was different) close to his body and sobbing silently as the body felt cold as a marmor statue. He'd returned. But not carrying his shield, he was laying on it. He'd died during a mission, Kyouya had been the only casualty of the mission, sacrificing himself for the sake of his protégé.  
Valentino shuddered as he closed his eyes, allowing the flames wash over him, calm him, comfort him. It was an odd thing about the Fire flame. It was always trying to soothe and heal despite of not really being the most suitable one for it. Fire was meant to be an offensive force while water should've been the protecting one. But it somehow worked out like this better for Naoki. Maybe it was his own history of being hurt making him to refuse hurting others, maybe he just didn't understand how his flame really was supposed to be used according to the old books and scrolls. But it worked. Valentino took a deep breath and bathed in the sensation of being cared for.

_If one thing was sure about the fire, it was the fact that it was warm._

Baku grunted as he rolled onto his side in his bed, he didn't want to feel that flame. It was unnatural. Nobody should be like that unless they were dumb. Especially if they were honest, then they had to be extremely dumb. He ignored the sting in his heart that he felt sting that he knew all too well to mean jealousy. It wasn't that he really hated it, the kindness, the friendliness, the warmth, he just... He just wanted to be exclusively the one directly receiving it. Be the one receiving the praise and attention. He just wanted to be seen, to be heard.

_The fire was also captivating, it loved to dance like an exotic dancer with snakes does or like a Romane woman who is putting up a show for her people._

Tetsuya looked up from his work, feeling the warmth that caressed his skin carefully, like a lover or a mother trying to calm someone down. He closed his eyes, allowing the oddly gentle treatment upon his being. He didn't need to take any second guesses about the owner of the flames, nor did he need to know exactly what had prompted this odd behaviour. He'd long accepted the younger teen having this habit, this near unconscious need to make sure that everyone and everything was fine. In a way, he was just like his grandfather, who had been like a shield between the normal and abnormal. His flames had been the kind that couldn't be felt clearly because they were everywhere, it was like a protective layer of oil on the back of a duck, making sure that those who were innocent wouldn't be harmed by the rampaging and uncontrolled flames by the young ones and helping those who had become active young to learn how to cope with the changes within their system.  
Tetsuya answered to the flames, sending his own to the boy, but upon feeling the traces of the leftover panic, he frowned. A very strong nightmare, a night terror perhaps. Either way, whatever he'd seen, heard or felt in the dream had prompted him to soothe everyone he could. Anyone who was on the range. But....

_How far could he really reach?_

On the far side of Namimori, a tiny man, child sized, with a braided long black hair and red clothes looked up in thought. This odd feeling in the air was somehow familiar yet oh so foreign. It wasn't his great grandson that was for sure, nor was it his own grandson despite of the flames being somewhat similar to that. No, the tint was more homey than his was. Once again the male was forced to come in terms with his own flames being blocked by the pacifier that hung around his neck like a chain that leeched off of his essence, preventing him from answering it properly.  
Swift as the wind he was named after, the Chinese dashed towards the source, or the apparent source, of those flames. There just was something about them that made it easier for him to breathe.

Yui didn't even flinch in her sleep when she felt the flames wrap around her, her own nightmarish hellscape soon changing from the scene of death and decay into a lot more pleasant setting of an unknown living room, where another boy with gravity defying hair was observing them confusedly. She smiled at the boy before leaning into her second boss' reflection.

Mistress Sawada smiled to herself, observing through the blindfolds how her husband staggered out of the house. Her Vongolian Intuition told her that the puzzle pieces were falling to their places as they should. Her husband would attempt to sway her protégé thrice into accepting the inhumane contract that'd cut his freedom in half, just like Sant Peter who'd denied knowing his King three times before the rooster had called out to him.  
Ah, her husband was oh so blind, despite of seeing, and just as def while he'd still hear. He simply couldn't see the world as it was and had always been, his senses being blocked. Her darling Iemitsu was blind to the world, only seeing the world in tangents and colours, but his sense was far too weak to his cousin's, the heir of Allegri.  
Her protégé on the other hand? His eyes were open to the world and its tiny changes, his ears heard the rain before it arrived, his nose could tell the scent of the snow before it fell and his mind fast enough to process it all without him noticing it. A natural replica of the Vongola Intuition. That's why she'd agreed to becoming his guide when it came to flames, he was capable enough to learn with all of his senses and similar enough to be mistake to be her own blood. Blood that her flames wouldn't attempt to destroy. Unlike Iemitsu's. Iemitsu's that were hard flames against of her soft flames. They were the two sides of the coin that was the sky. The harmony and the disconnect.  
She could harmonise with other flames with ease, her empathy and ability to relate to others gifting her this ability, her heart being an open highway.

Iemitsu needed to be harmonised with, but he couldn't establish the bond himself. Oh no. He was too hard, too closed off and aloof. What he'd needed was a Cloud.

And their son? Well... He was just the perfect combination of their flames, though he was more in tune with his soft flames, while his hard flames had been forced to be sealed at a young age for his own safety. It was curious in all of its honesty. How similar yet different her son and her protégé were, she mused to herself a soft smile playing on her lips. Would the two be left together long enough, they'd naturally assume the roles of brothers, such a natural bond that was deep on an empathic level was important to establish before the much wanted alliance between the Vongola and the Paravento could be even discussed of.

And for the boys to meet...they needed one little too stubborn father to meddle.  
"Good luck", she whispered to no-one in particular, leaving the window in order to go to sleep herself, feeling the warm flames of her protégé flail around her protectively, helping her own to heal more, to take support from him as they re-routed themselves into a position where she could re-harmonise with a new set in the future.

In a different time, Tsuna would've been confused to see ghosts of something, some people. But this wasn't one of those times. He was now intrigued by this phenomenon more than anything, those almost solid beings that were still a tad too see through to be interacted with, that appeared to be resting. The group of eight people was residing in the meeting room, on a sofa, all of them leaning towards the person on the centre. The teen was a bit older than he was, that was for sure, but he carried an identical face to his own. The boy's mind raced as he tried to think off the possibilities, could the teen be his future son and his own friends? Was he seeing an alternative universe? An alternative future?  
As he stared at the sofa in shock, feeling like he should know this person, both Haru and Kyoko entered, the previous soon gasping at the scene.

"Look Kyoko! It's the boy who offered us tea and cake! What is he doing here? Did he get moved to the future too?" the girl exclaimed as she attempted to touch the sleeping boy her hand phasing through. "Hahi! A ghost!"  
Tsuna looked at the duo confused as to how and when they'd met the boy, but he didn't need to wonder it for long. "Aw yes! It was right before we got here! He noticed that we were worried and wanted to see if he could help us! He was really kind even if he did end up mainly talking with that blonde boy", "Ah! Haruka is there with him too!"  
Something just... Didn't seem quite right there. As the trio kept observing the group, Tsuna's double gänger opened his eyes and turned them to look at a lot younger boy, who'd started to whimper in his sleep. His eyes narrowed a tiny bit, filling with determination and sympathy as he reached out at the fluff of black hair.  
Porcelain pale fingers brushed against the tanned skin of the younger boy, who shifted a little, clearly wanting to feel the touch more. A girly looking being with a mid length ashe blonde hair moved in turn, leaning onto the shoulder of the pale raven. Tsuna could see the unshed tears that were glimmering in their eyes. The pile of people shifted and moved as every one of its participants tried to get closer to the boy in the centre, who was now worriedly observing his company. It was as if something very upsetting had taken place just moments before, something that had shaken the young adults and teens so badly that they were afraid to be alone.  
Finally, the boy noticed that he was being watched, his attention shifting to his audience of three people. Amber met orange as the young Dons stared at one another, surprised by their own right. The teen was faster to come to himself, flashing a shy smile to the younger one. He opened his mouth.  
"Paravento Primo, Naoki", it sounded as if he was inside of a metal box, his voice echoing and having a metallic after sound. Tsuna blinked.

Naoki was sure that he was asleep, but something within him told him that this was not entirely the case. Something had prompted him, and his friends, to show themselves in some other place. It was a living room or sort, at least he was on a sofa, surrounded by white walls that seemed to be made of painted steel. He could see the boy everyone kept mistaking him for, staring at him, his mouth ajar ever so slightly in confused wonder. He was accompanied by the two girls, Haru and Kyoko, as his memory told him. The Don decided to cut the chase and introduce himself to his duplicate.  
The brunette with orange eyes was taken back by this, fumblin with his response before giving out his own answer. "Sawada Tsunayoshi", no titles, no Famiglia name, just his name and nothing else. But then again, there was no need for anything else. Naoki observed the boy, who was clearly not comfortable with being stared like that, nor was he comfortable with the idea of being part of the mafia. His introduction had told as much.

"Where are we? Or rather.... What place am I dreaming of?"

Tsuna was taken back by this question, unsure of how to respond to it. The older boy didn't.. He couldn't...  
"Uhmn.. You're.. Not exactly sleeping. And this is Namimori, in the future, ten years into it", the boy blinked in response, it was as if tiny gears were going off inside of his head. Naoki nodded slowly. "I see... So I am unconsciously projecting myself to the future where somehow I am seeing someone from this time not be any older than they are in this time... I thought that projection could only be done within the same time and space as present though".  
Now it was Tsuna's turn to blink in confusion, but the older boy wasn't done yet. "I guess that parts of my flames got tangled up with someone else's during their visit to the present. I need to be more careful in the future--err.. Near future. Thank you for being honest with me Tsunayoshi!"

And so the group was gone before the trio that consisted of Tsuna and the two girls could say anything else.


	18. XVIII

"So... Because of me using my flames to nightly lift the thing you refer to as the Arcobaleno Curse off of your son's tutor, my flames automatically used that connection in order to show me what was going on in the future?" Naoki inquired as his mentor calmly knead the bread dough with her hands. As the young man stared at the said hands, lifting the dough and folding it in half on repeat, she answered. "Partially yes, but also no. You see, the sky set works very differently from the set you represent, the power of the sky is to oversee the time itself, which is present in two families in particular. Vongola, which see to the past, and Giglionero, that has the power to see what may come".

The answer didn't really explain anything at all, but that didn't really bother Naoki as much. In fact he was delighted to receive an ambiguous response like that, it gave him a reason to think and deduce. Like one of those detective stories he'd redd as a child and adored. He loved them so much that he'd wanted to be a detective once grown up. "You mentioned the seer and the Arcobaleno in the past, her name was Luce wasn't it? The sky Arcobaleno who was a seer as well", he started, a thought forming in his mind, "Is it possible that the connection to Reborn created a slight connection to the current sky of Arcobaleno?". Nana's smile was all the confirmation that he needed to find himself to be on the right trail.

"None of the Arcobaleno are truly bonded to one another in the way they believe they are, their connection is through a common Cloud rather than a Sky and even then their bond isn't exactly a fully formed one, it's more of a security net than an actual flame bond. Only third of them are classic users, the rest being inverted type"

The door opened and closed, and Nana's tone shifted immediately into a happy go lucky type, a big dreamy smile making it to her face. "And that's how you are supposed to be kneading dough into a bread!"  
Naoki stared at the perfectly round loaf to be, his brows furrowing in thought. "How do you get the stripes into them? I mean.. If you run a knife through it after it rises, it'll ruin it, won't it?"  
Iemitsu stared at the two people in the kitchen, his brows shot up in surprise. The boy looked a lot different from what he'd expected him to be like, a much fluffier, shorter, paler. He was softly emitting that comforting candlelight like flame, the type that just called people towards them, like moths. The male was also younger than expected, he'd been waiting for at least a twenty year old, not a wet behind the ears high schooler. As he observed the boy who was being given a baking lesson by his wife, the teen suddenly turned to look at him with the sharpest eyes he'd ever seen.  
It felt uncomfortable, the gaze so clear and unavoidable by man whose sins were now surfacing at an alarming speed. His eyes were so much older than they should've been and the presence itself was that of an old man, a priest's, someone who you'd confess how horrible you've been with teary eyes and be gifted with forgiveness and advice of how to become a better person. Someone who you could rely on to lift you up on their arms and wash away the darkness you carry within.

But it was so oh so terrifying. Because he _knew_. He knew what he'd _done_. _There was nowhere to hide_. And he _knew what he was planning_ to do.

Iemitsu painted a smile up onto his face and approached the teen nonchalantly. "Nana my dear, who might this be?" he asked from his wife, fully knowing who he was referring to. But he didn't want to alarm her into thinking that the teenager might've been a threat, oh no. He knew exactly who his wife was even if she was shattered long time ago. His wife flipped her hair away from her face, something he'd last seen her do before she lost her set. The man stopped to stare at the brunette, his heart full and ready to burst as he saw more and more of those tiny habits that had originally made him fall for her in the first place. The tiny twitch of her nose, the swish of a hand, the flick of a wrist, the tiny spring in her step, the small steps she took. His heart was so full now.  
Nana tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear and flashed a kind smile to her husband. "This is Oda Naoki, he moved here recently and I have been tutoring him in English! And he wanted to learn how to bake! Isn't that exciting?" Iemitsu blinked at this reaction, his wife's smile being too bright for him to handle it and too pure to be looked at directly. He looked at the teen again, who flashed him a sheepishly boyish grin.  
"I figured that it'd save me some money if I'd learn how to bake myself, especially since one of my roomies has a bit of a sweet tooth", Iemitsu nodded slowly at this notion, it made sense for the boy to actually go with it. From what he could see, this boy was most likely to be on his last year of middle school, first year of high school at latest, and living expenses were always a big thing. Not to mention the school costs. The blonde put a hand into his pocket, carefully fishing out a card which he then presented to the teen. "If you feel like needing help, you can always come to my company and ask for it", as his eyes landed onto those amber eyes, he felt his stomach sink. The boy was going to say no to his offer.

"I must apologise sir, but I don't want to become indebted to a multi billion company for life", the teen said smiling sharply at him, clearly not pleased with this thought, "Not to mention that my pride doesn't allow me to be bribed like this into a contract that can be harmful towards me and my family".

The two stared one another for a while, tension rising with each passing minute. They both knew that the other one knew that they knew that they thought that they had an ace on their sleeve the other didn't know about.  
After a while of silent staring, Iemitsu backed off, to rethink his strategy, this kid was making him nervous. Besides they obviously knew what he was after and didn't accept his card even then.  
"It's not bad thing to ask for help kid", "When you need it that is. Not to mention that as a child I was told to not take anything from strangers"  
Ouch.  
Iemitsu shifted his weight from one leg to another, he needed to approach the kid in a different way. "How old are you?" the pointed stare he received would've been amusing to him had it not been given by the boy who was clearly on top of the happenings. He watched how Naoki straightened himself to his full height from his previous very teenager slouching. Had he not known better, he could've mistaken this boy to be his own son. "I am eighteen", the teen said, his eyes challenging him to deny this.  
"Ohh.. So.. Not a child anymore-", the man mumbled in confused manner, he obviously couldn't know this as he hadn't received any files of the boy. Heck there probably weren't any files available for him to read. He had no information of this kid, who was supposedly civilian, how he worked, how he thought, not a single piece of information in his hands to use. Shit.

"Oh! That reminds me! Naoki, you're friends with the boy who lives on the opposite side of the street right?" Nana asked, attempting to soothe the strained situation. She well knew what her husband was up to, and she was more than aware of the said husband getting onto the nerves of her protégé. And if this boy was anything like his grandfather, they might need to buy a new house if he's too ticked off. "Ah yeah, he's been staying at my place couple times since his brother has sometimes work in other cities and Heiji can't cook to save his life", "You like him"  
Naoki froze onto his place, unsure of how to answer to that statement. Yes, he did like Heiji, he was a good friend. "Heiji is a friend, it'd be weird of me to not like my friends", he said carefully, feeling the judgemental gaze of Nana's husband in him. Yikes forever. Nana shook her head smiling at him gently, "Oh no, I didn't mean it like that you silly, I meant romantically."  
Time seemed to stop on its tracks, take a second look at the schedule and decide to take an hour long nap just because it could. And during that time, Naoki went through all of his thoughts for the past two years to the present before smiling nervously, deciding to go through this with logic.  
"Isn't that a wild assumption to make? I mean, not only are we both boys, but he's also a lot younger than me. I am eighteen and he is fourteen, nearing fifteen but still, I am too old for him and I am sure that it's only a matter of time until some nice girl catches my eye", he desperately didn't want to have a conversation like this. Not especially with the husband present as he appeared to become somewhat hostile with the mention of having someone who might fling the other way under his roof.

"Nonsense, even Tsu has been eyeing some of his older friends with that eye for a while, even if he does seem to like that girl Kyoko a lot more", Naoki's smile froze onto his face into a silent panic as his mentor kept talking to him about how cute it was to have two people of the same gender to be a couple and how wonderfully laid back and friendly they were while her Catholic raised husband was equally starting to panic over his wife's views.  
"Mistress Sawada! Don't you get it? **_I am too old_** to be with Heiji! He is in **_middle school_**! It'd be pedophilia even if there is only three years between us because _**I am an adult**_ and he is a teenager! It's _**wrong**_! _**He's too young**_ to even think about dating yet!" Naoki finally snapped at the older woman, who was taken back by his outburst. The room grew silent as both of the older adults stared at the younger as he breathed heavily, the high schooler wasn't used to talking louder like that, nor expressing his emotions in such a strong and vocal fashion.  
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go like that, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry", the son of the police officer covered his face with his hands, embarrassed and afraid of receiving any backlash from such behaviour. He really wanted to cry, he was crying, but he didn't want to be seen. He'd grown up to learn that tears were unsightly when shed by a man.

As he kept repeating himself that he was sorry, a pair of slender hands wrapped themselves around him, soothing and helping him to calm down.  
Iemitsu stared at the young man unsure of what to do or say, in mafia he'd seen many kinds of people, some of whom he didn't approve of like Lussuria, and some who he highly approved of, but he'd never really seen a civilian reaction to this topic, hadn't considered it to be possibly this strong. As he kept staring dumbfounded, he saw how his wife attempted to calm the teen down. And to his surprise and shock, Nana was now actively using her flames as a leverage to do so. For the past ten years, she'd been unable to use them at all in fear of them harming other people but now....  
Those soft sky flames were circling around the protégé-mentor duo protectively, without a trace of her past breaking. And even more astonishingly, the boy's own flames answered to hers. The more vivid flames were shy around him, choosing to stay on a small concentrated area, and every now and then one could see sparks of purple and blue within. Sadly, Iemitsu failed to notice the purple ones, only concentrating on the orange and blue.  
"Sky and rain, eh", he mused silently to himself, slowly starting to construct a plan.

Upon returning home, Naoki had the sudden urge to see what was going on in the future. His eyes closed in concentration as he sat down to meditate, a bright flame lit up onto his forehead signaling of his high concentration leading him to a state his mentor had called Hyper Dying Will Mode. He felt the tug of his flames, searching for that connection he'd made to the Arcobaleno with his nightly visits to help weaken the curse. Following the thread of sun flames, he found his way.

Naoki opened his eyes.

He was in a room, surrounded by the Vongola's tenth generation, but none of them seemed to be able to see him. As he took in his surroundings, he soon noticed how they were all wearing suits for some odd reason. He watched how the group was introduced to a set of rules, to a game or sort called Choice. He had a bad feeling about it.  
Feeling a presence next to him, he glanced to his right just in time to see his own Guardians join him, each of them apparently using his reflection as a leverage to also see what was up. Haruka's eyes narrowed as he (they had chosen to be perceived as a man today) stared at the white haired man on the screen. His lips pursed together in annoyed manner as if he'd met the man before.  
Suddenly the white haired man's attention shifted to their group, his smile widening even further.  
"Oh how naughty of you to only spectate us Paravento! You should've also come here from the past", the person said all too excitedly as he plopped a marshmallow into his mouth. He then seemed to think of something that made him giggle, but from his eyes you could see that it wasn't actually funny. "Silly me! You can't come over! Not when I killed you all!"  
The Vongola moved around trying to see their hidden spectators, but it was no avail.

"Aww you're using the Projection to be here! No wonder they can't see you! But I know for a fact that you are~ After all", the whitenette's face turned suddenly serious as he held the marshmallow in his hand in a menacing way, "I've seen what you are capable of. Not in this world, but in the previous one. And I didn't like it at all little hitman. It's not fair of you to be in only two realities I have the access to".  
The grin re-appeared onto that foxy face as he resumed to his sweets, humming a tune to himself. "By the way, I didn't know that you had children Nao, they were cute and fun to play with. Too bad that they also had your flames and thus burned up nicely. But oh! I loved the way you fought until the end clutching the little toy bunny against your chest before you turned around and attacked my man, it was really impressive! And you burned so long too! Much longer than your Guardians did! It was so fun to look at! You had no eyes and your skin was burning off, you were completely devoured by flames and you still fought!"

Naoki felt a shiver go down to his spine, it hadn't been a dream? It had been a memory from his future self?  
Shocked by this reveal, his concentration slipped causing his reflection to become visible to the shocked Vongola that were listening intensively to the madman. He looked up to the screen, his eyes wide and lips apart. But his vision was blurred.

"Aww you're crying? That's not how it goes Nao-dear, that's not how you play this game~"

His sobs and gasps alerted the Vongola to turn around, to face the duplicate of their own Don, staring with wide eyes and tears streaming down to his face as he was hit by the sense of loss once again while the cruel man on the screen mocked him.  
"They had pretty nice names, Elias and Elsa, I wonder how you came up with them not to mention that I couldn't find your wife anywhere, did she die at childbirth?"  
Naoki shivered. It was so cruel. Too cruel.  
The teen grit his teeth together and forced himself to look directly at the screen. "What's this? The empathy of the mafia is glaring at me? How scary!" the whitenette only received a low growl from the teen.  
"I don't know who you are, nor do I know what you are...", Naoki said difficultly with a sore throat from his previous crying and his ongoing tears, "... But from now on.. You are my target. And I will not rest until you lay on the ground begging for mercy you don't deserve or die by the hand of someone else. You are a threat to the people I've sworn to protect and I'll be damned if I allow you to go without a punishment". Tsuna stared at the tear stained face of the boy he'd briefly met a week ago, the bared teeth and narrow orange eyes made him look more like an animal than a man. The orange flame that burned brightly on his forehead flickered as two other colours danced across it. He flinched as the older boy turned at him with hard eyes, that only softened to show him sympathy.  
"Vongola, I know that this is going to be hard on you, but please. Don't let him get away with this. I can't be there to beat him with you, but if you need anything, anything at all, here in the present, all you need to do is ask", he then smiled painfully at Tsuna clearly hurting from something, "We former civilians need to stick together".

The teen faded away from view once again, but Tsuna knew that he was still there with them, he sensed him and many others standing behind them. A new resolution made its way into his heart as he looked at the screen once more, feeling confident that he could do it. There was someone who believed in him.

Reborn stared at the spot the Primo/Tsuna look alike had been standing, his eyes narrowing as he tried to see him once more. With a lot of eye squinting, he could make out faint outlines of a person being comforted by a woman.

He was sure that he'd met the boy somewhere before and it bothered him.

Just where had he seen him before?


	19. XIX

Naoki had been a lot more quieter than what was usual for him, which may not seem much to many, heck most wouldn't even notice him not talking for weeks, he just generally didn't like to talk. He liked being able to listen carefully what others had to say and only then give out his own opinions. Why? Because if you asked from him, talking meant that people would pay attention to him and being at the centre of attention made him feel uncomfortable. For as Japanese as he was, he showcased a lot more Finnish traits than expected.  
Heiji was the one to notice this immediately, but then again he was the one who was most often paying attention to the voice of his boss, completely enamoured by its melody and quiet power. It didn't take long for the rest of his set notice either, and him avoiding the gaze of the Coal Guardian much more than usual told them volumes. Something had happened. Something that involved the oblivious hacker.  
But also, there was what they'd witnessed in their sleep of the future and the confirmation of it being true along with the fact that Naoki had been the last one left standing.

Perhaps the visions their boss had seen had been a lot more intense and horrifying than what they'd experienced? The lot was too afraid to ask about it as they observed the now almost adult looking raven.

How Naoki had started to grow faster and just over all take the shape of an adult was astonishing to them, they'd assumed that the eighteen year old would always look like a carbon copy of Sawada, or maybe it was the other way around, but now... Now they were looking at a young adult with narrow golden eyes and more defined looks. The young lion suddenly looked up from his seat where he'd been reading Criminale Notizie, eyes narrowed into slits. Naoki Oda stood up from the kitchen chair, his feet carrying him to the front door. His porcelain pale hand pulled the door open, revealing the surprised blonde who'd been standing behind it, ready to knock, frozen to his pose in surprise. The raven gave a stern, unpleased, look.  
"The answer is no Mister Sawada", he said with cold voice, Xia He could've sworn that the air turned to the freezing degrees when his words fell like icicles, "I already told this to your boss and I will say it to you again, Paravento will join forces with Vongola only if the tenth heir offers his friendship and oversees the drafting of the d'accordo with me, no more, no less. We will **_not_** become a pawn in the game that your Famiglia is playing".

Iemitsu Sawada, the hard sky flame without a set, and not as bright as his wife, stared at Naoki with offended look in his eyes, a closed envelope in his hand. This was the sixth time that he'd come over to offer "alliance" to Paravento this week and it was only Thursday.  
The fact that he didn't show any concern over his son being missing along with his friends was alarming, but then again somebody probably had already sent the word to the Vongola about the future and what was going on. Too bad that the person didn't return to Iemitsu with a memo about needing to leave Naoki alone.

What made it all worse (if you asked from the at the moment grumpy Fire) was the knowledge of this person being Valentino's cousin. It made sense in a very twisted way, the two cousins did share few traits with one another, but those traits were very few. Naoki slapped the hand that was attempting to slip the envelope into his pocket without him noticing (and failing at it).

"Look, I am not doing this because of not wanting an alliance with the Vongola or anything, I'm just not seeing any profits coming from it for me. And I'm tired, really tired, I've been monitoring your son's doings in the future with my own flames for the last week, gotten traumatised by the shit that's happening in the future, and I'm forced to think about things like heritage of my status. I simply can't be bothered to think about alliances on top of everything else at this moment, I first need to stabilise my own Famiglia and then the region of Syracuse. I'll have a talk with Decimo about this once I have time and energy to do it, but now is not it".  
That was the most the Paravento that was present had heard him talk for the past week, and it was one of the few times their boss was open about the pressure he felt. And yet the man in front of his door refused to step down. But the Paravento knew that they couldn't step into this, this was between the Fire and the Sky, would any of them would intervene, it'd be written down as a loss from Naoki's side. "If you accept our alliance, you won't need to worry about such trivial things", Iemitsu challenged the younger man to see the error in this, prompting Naoki to raise a brow at his reasoning. Carefully, the amber eyed man followed the line of thought, saw where the sapphire eyed one was coming from.

And rejected it.

"If I'd do that, I'd also agree on inhumane treatment of both myself and my Famiglia, I can't allow that. Seeing how Vongola Nono acted towards Cavallone Decimo was enough for me", he retorted closing his eyes. According to the rule book of mafiosi etiquette, what he just did was equivalent of him kicking Iemitsu swiftly to his stomach and then doing an axe kick once he'd bent down to gasp for air. "How unwise of you to say that", ah... A mere slap to face? How untactful of him. "But then again, you're only a child", really? He's bringing age to this?  
"May I introduce you to an interesting piece of history of your own Famiglia?", "Psh, as if you'd be able to tell me anything earth shattering", "Vongola Primo was only fifteen when he created Vongola, are you suggesting that the first boss of your own famiglia was incompetent and unwise due to his apparent lack of age?".  
The blonde stared at Naoki eyes wide and mouth ajar like surprised Pikachu, just how'd he even know such a detail? It was impossible! And Giotto was totally a lot older than-  
"The age expectations have changed a lot during the last hundred years, if the average of human life during the 1860s was roughly in early forties, the current day's expectation is double that. It only makes sense that he settled down in his early twenties and left his title to his cousin during that time, but this also suggests that he was indeed in his teens when Vongola came to be", hold on. Wait. Where did he get this all? From Wikipedia?  
Iemitsu's stare intensified as the silence turned thicker and more uncomfortable, had he really not seen this coming or was he honestly the type to not look at the history in order to learn from it? No scratch that, was the VONGOLA the type to not educate their own about their history? Or was this just ageism towards younger generations again? Must he the latter.

Naoki sighed again, his patience being tested and stretched like a cheap slime toy or a gum.

"It's pretty logical assumption don't you think? The younger you are, the more likely you are to step forward with a solution and to change the world, plus he retired early which suggests that he was in his twenties and thus expected to live only twenty years more not to mention that his achievements took time and effort to be realised", Naoki gently turned the man around to face the gate and gave a small push onto his back, "You should go read history book or two, educate yourself".  
Encouraged by the slight push, the man started to walk forward, a glassy look in his eyes and a robotic phasing on his limbs. It was pretty painful to watch honestly.  
Once the man had disappeared from view, Naoki's shoulders dropped, as he'd finally relaxed, before he turned to return inside. Locking his eyes with Cain, the teen spoke.  
"Cain, could you please make it so that nobody can just march through that gate again? Make it be automatic or something", his command masked into a question, a suggestion, carried itself into the ears of the Paravento. The Inferno grunted in agreement, soon pulling out a piece of concept paper from God knows where, starting to design the secure and delicate system.

All of them knew that the mafia would eventually find a way to get in, but they'd worry about it later.

Three days after the system had been set up and running, Naoki called up his mentor to pickup her badly beaten up husband from his kitchen where he'd dug himself into through the floor.  
To say the least, Vongola Nono nearly drowned into his afternoon tea upon receiving the complaint along with photos and a bill to reconstruct the floor of the old Japanese house.  
Not because of the stunt Iemitsu had pulled, but because of the eerily familiar teapot that was showcased on the counter next to the man made hole that the leader of CEDEF had used as his newest tactic for infiltrating the Namimorian base of Paravento.  
 _He himself had bought that teapot_ to the man he'd been forced to deal with when entering Namimori as a gesture of his good will. Nobody had ever told him why it was important to stay polite and on the good side of the older man, but he'd done it nevertheless just like his mother had instructed him to.  
The longer he stared the photo, the clearer the image in his head was becoming and the more terrified he was.  
 _They were dealing with the man who'd inherited the will of the Oda_ and whatever it was that the old man Masaru had been doing in Namimori, it had been important to the locals to the point where crossing him could've resulted in international conflict between the two factions.  
They really needed to be more careful when they were working in that town from now on.

Naoki stared blankly at the blonde man in front of his porch in dogeza. It was five in the morning and he wasn't feeling it, especially with the group of men in black also following the lead of the one and only Sawada Iemitsu. It was embarrassing sight, and the raven was more than happy to know that nobody was walking the street at this hour yet. He already knew why they were there and thus could just get to the point without the need to ask about it. "Your boss will be getting more letters and you will be given a restraining order if you don't stop being creepy with your alliance stuff", he said bluntly and turned around, "Oh and you better take care of that garden you also managed to harm during your last "visit", you have four hours and you better work silently". And with that the door to the large house closed, the group outside sweat dropping at the sound of a lock clicking. This was one unexpected turn of events. And one that Iemitsu himself was very sour about.

Naoki sat down in the living room and closed his eyes, focusing his flames once again on the future.  
....except that this time, he couldn't quite get through.

Tsuna blinked at the group of people that had appeared, the Arcobaleno he knew more than well, but the other ten... Not so much.  
Yuni had just sacrificed herself to bring back the Arcobaleno, but that had also brought back the other people, which prompted the question how they were connected to the set.  
His teary eyes moved onto the raven who stood tall among his people, his amber eyes sharp yet kind. The man noticed him, and started to walk towards the bubble of sky flames separating the sky driven insane and the young boss of Vongola. The man's cream white clothes made him seem as if he was glowing with heavenly light, a bright orange fire soon amassing his forehead mirroring Tsuna's own, face serious as a grave. The wind picked up, white cape flown behind him revealing mix of snow white and icy blue fabrics, it was an enchanting sight, like an ice King had materialised in front of them. The bubble allowed him to enter it, and so he did. His dancer like steps taking him to the side of one Sawada Tsunayoshi, where he placed his hand onto his shoulder reassuringly. Yet he remained silent until the reflection of Vongola Primo made his entrance.

Once the reflection had unleashed Tsuna, it turned to the man, his eyes warm and gentle. "Kaze... You never cease to surprise me", Giotto said and the raven nearly identical to the Primo aside from his curly sideburns chuckled. "I am called Paravento Primo in this day and age, though I'm pretty sure that you're now called Tsuna yourself, Ieyasu", Tsuna blinked as he stared at the raven, tiny gears in his mind going forward as he processed this information. Giotto scoffed. "Well, Decimo isn't exactly me, he's different, he had different conditions than I did", "As did I, Gio while the soul is the same, I am very much a different person than Zen'Ichiro was"  
Giotto smiled sadly at the Don, as if to say that he knew that from the very beginning, but neither he nor Paravento Primo could afford to chat longer. The enemy was about to strike and they needed to move from the arena to give the teen more space.

Two gloved hands, both supporting the letter I, were placed on Tsuna's shoulders as the mirror images leaned in closer, smiling a gentle yet terrifyingly bloodthirsty smiles.  
"Maybe next time, you'll be able to witness my wedding, Tsunayoshi", the raven said to him before turning his attention to Byakuran, who was fuming with anger.

"Now go give that Mare kid a scare", the two voices echoed as their holders respectively retreated from the bubble, Giotto back into the ring (or past), and Paravento Primo walking out of it to his people who were crying tears of joy. Tsuna would've wanted to ask the man who he was, not quite being able to put the pieces together in the right way yet, but he had a battle to be brought to an end.

Reborn eyed the man glad in white as he exited the bubble, his flame instantly going out like a blown candle. As he kept observing, he saw a pair of twins, aged four at most, hurrying to the man and tackling him while sobbing helplessly. So these were the children Byakuran had mentioned in the Choice, stirring up the emotions of the teenager they'd seen appear behind them alone.  
The man was unmistakenly Naoki Oda, the boy who shared a striking resemblance to his protégé. And those children were presumably his children. Yet he couldn't see a ring decorate the ring finger of the Don, which was an odd thing for a mafioso since the mafia was very Catholic.  
The children seemed to be twins, but not identical ones; one of them was a boy, another a girl. The boy bore similarly spiky hair as their father, but the girl had inherited his sideburns, the girl also had blue eyes while the boy had amber. The girl was pale like her father and yet the boy was darker by his complexion, though none of this was really that interesting to the hitman. Oh no.  
What he did find to be interesting however, was the fact that both of them carried sky flames.

As he observed the little family, he heard the Don hush them and whisper them small encouragements and soothing words before he'd start to humm something that was most likely a lullaby to calm his children down.

**"X BURNER"**

Naoki woke up from his sofa, series of memories flashing in front of his eyes. Tsunayoshi had won and changed the timeline, what he'd seen wouldn't happen. But while he'd done so, he'd also lost his innocence by taking the life of the marshmallow eating gremlin, though he'd been presented with no other choice.  
The young boss sat up from his sleeping place, feeling the aching of his back muscles from sleeping on the sofa in a bad position. He needed to write for Tsuna, he needed to thank the younger boy. And apologise, for forcing him to make such a horrible choice. Through the window, one could barely make out the outlines of the garden that'd been engulfed by the dark evening. Rain bashed against the glass mercilessly, demanding the sleepy Namimori to acknowledge that the autumn was on its way. And yet, it wasn't alarming kind of rain that one could read to mean an upcoming catastrophe, it was somehow calming while it was forceful. Like a mother who wants her children to finally go to sleep.  
Naoki stood up, his socked feet feeling the wooden floor be as sturdy as always, soon making his way to his own room where his writing desk was located. Mind clear, though tormented by the knowledge of the future that won't be, he sat down.

And he thought.  
What exactly could he say without being rude or accidentally starting the third mafia war?

In the house opposite of the Sawada residence, Mizushima Heiji laid awake on his bed, his thoughts being questions and worried over his boss, whom he held dear. For a week, Naoki had been silent, for a week there had been something going on that only the raven had been allowed to see, had protected them from. And now that he had memories of the corrupt timeline, Heiji knew what it was. And yet... Naoki avoided being left alone with him.  
Surely it had been because of his failed assumption of the twins Elias and Elsa being his that had brought this awkwardness between them? He needed to clear things up with the Fire as soon as he could, Heiji didn't have the strength to bear seeing his Don be so aloof and evasive.

_And so, a new timeline came to be, a new future, a future where Byakuran didn't try to take over the world, where the Arcobaleno were free, where Xanxus could show his tenderness to his "cousin". On this timeline, a pale hand brushed through silky hair, away from his face as he redd in the Japanese garden. There were others just like him present, though their shading was different. It was so peaceful, to have the privilege of just being there with the rest of the skies, enjoying the afternoon._   
_Hearing the scoffs and giggles, the man smiled, without looking up, he spoke._   
_"Ama, Asashi, please try not to be too rowdy with uncle Xanxus today, he just recently had a life saving surgery he's still recovering from"_   
_The twin boys froze on their spots before they started to fuss over the scarred man with red eyes, the older brother of one of their "Uncles"._

_Finally, Naoki looked up from his book, a wide smile plastered onto his face, he'd already smelled the coffee that his butler was bringing, and he could hear the trolley he used for the rest of the refreshments roll down the hall being pushed by none other than Jean, who'd chosen to act the part of a butler whenever he wasn't on a mission that required his expertise. From the corner of his eye, Naoki counted the skies present, immediately relaxing as he did so. Nana, Valentino, Tetsuya, Baku, Enma, Tsuna, Yuni, Byakuran, Xanxus and Naito, and the twins Asashi and Ama, all of them were having a day off on Saturday (or Cakeday as Haruka called it). He'd also invited Skull as he was a leader of his own set, proving himself to be the person Iemitsu had needed to bond with all along and that Clouds had the potential of harmonisation, but the former Arcobaleno had declined claiming that he needed to have his own set to be trained to become Quality. Everyone knew that he'd organised a movie marathon for his group and they were shamelessly watching through different movies from Blade Runner to Casablanca to Titanic to Nightmare on the Elmstreet to those old My Little Pony movies from the 80s though._

_**It do be like that sometimes**._


	20. XX

"Mmmrgh" was the sound that perfectly described the situation Cain was witnessing in the living room at 8 am on one particular Sunday morning. The "Mmmrgh" came to be when none other than Heiji had casually walked into the house to talk with Naoki, only for the high schooler to quickly turn away from the middle schooler and proceed to ignore his very existence. This prompted the young Coal to assume his current position of sulking where he was resting his head on top of the coffee table and staring at the raven with eyes of a hurt puppy while Naoki was physically trembling in an attempt to not turn around to look.

This was.... Ninth day of Naoki being like this? And he'd again presumed to his silence. Which wasn't good at all if you asked from anyone.

Yesterday when Cain had been in the town, he'd run to the Allegri group, which had shed some light to the situation, though it hadn't really helped with solving it.  
"Ah, well, remember when the oddities with your group being somewhat able to spectate what the Vongola in the future was doing?" Valentino had stared as his Cloud, Tanaka Kyouya, snuggled to him while glaring daggers at the older man, "To put it shortly, Lady Nanami implied that Nao might have feelings towards Heihei and uhhh Nao might be having a crisis?". Valentino had also picked up a habit of coming up with rather odd nicknames. The one he'd decided to refer to Heiji with actually translated as Bye-bye if you knew how to Finnish, naturally both Naoki and Valentino knew this, but Heiji didn't. The two had shared some good laughs from it.

"It all boils down to the surrounding culture not being the most supportive towards homosexuality and with him knowing how the Catholic Sicily would react huh...", Cain mumbled as he kept staring at the rather troublesome sight, more than aware of about the misery it brought to the duo first hand experiencing it.

Well... He really shouldn't interfere with it, bonds were delicate things to be navigated through after all.

10 am, on the other side of the "High class" district, Haruka wasn't too happy for being back at the house of his father. The old geezer was once again staring down at him, over something as trivial as how he dressed. You'd think that he'd gotten over it by now.

The meeting was an important one, so Haruka had to take part in it himself instead of having Mammon attend in his stead. And it honestly stunk.

The teen's striking silvery blue eyes were glued onto the old man who was staring at him without blinking. Their facial expressions mirroring each other perfectly, disdain, dislike, wish to not be forced to see one another. But neither of them had any choice. Haruka had turned 18 himself and thus he was to be presented with his inheritance left to him by his mother. Mother who had been an idol, a model, who'd shaped the previous generation with her appearance and actions. "Haruka." Tenoh senior said as he kept his face straight. "Father." answered the gender fluid child, who'd taken more after their mother than the father. "Your mother left you quite a lot of things", the man said emotionlessly, "And you're supposed to be receiving them today". There was something there, a plot. Just like what Haruka had always been in his father's gaze, nothing more than a chess piece to be used in his games.

"Before I give them to you, I will ask you one more time. Stop wearing those clothes. I do not tolerate my son being some queer anomaly", Haruka stared at his father with unimpressed look, knowing fully well, that the community had long ago aimed that word, word that only meant one thing for him, "Out of the norm".  
"No."  
His father stared at him, obviously angered by his answer, but they both knew that to raise your voice or act out of the line would mean losing.  
"Why.", "You haven't suffered enough. You see, you may have lost a wife, but at least you knew her, I lost a mother and have never been given anything to remember her by, I know nothing of her. You treat me as if I was nothing of value. I am more than aware that my death wouldn't move you in the slightest, therefore I can only make you suffer by walking down the path my mother walked before me"

Haruka slowly got up, dusting his yukata, he gave his father a cold stare.  
"I will become an idol like she was and show you that choosing to be neither of the two options you always presented to me, I am stronger than you will ever be", the blonde turned around, his silvery hair flowing dramatically as he so did, sleeves of his yukata doing the same. He refused to be tied down ever again. "You won't be able to do it Haruka. Nobody will ever accept you", his father's voice carried over to him, slithering like a malicious snake. Haruka smiled.  
"You're wrong, I've already found my place and I've already begun my journey. Where there are people who are truly kind, there is acceptance, and where is acceptance, that's where I stand proudly"

Right before he was able to exit the room, Haruka heard his father call out to him one last time.  
"You are going to bring ruin to our family!" and without skipping a beat, the teenager turned around to give one final glance at his father, a cold and uncaring smile painted onto his face as if he was the archangel Azrael. Bright, cold, cruel and inevitable fourth rider of the apocalypse. Voice cold as ice and just as freezing as the winds of the North Pole, the young adult answered to their so called parent.  
"Then perish"

Tenoh senior was admitted into a hospital later that day, his health taking a sudden turn to the worse. The old man tried to curse his son, but his curses never managed to reach him, how could they? Mister Tenoh didn't have a son, he had a child. A child who was neither male nor female. A child who carried the genderfluid name of Haruka, the soul of one Cecilia Bones residing within that body.

A child, Haruka, who remembered how things had been long ago, yet sometimes thinking of it all having been just a dream.  
And yet when they'd gone to their newly obtained base in Sicily, the Ash Guardian had made sure that everything would be just like they had been in their memory of time that, as far as they were concerned, had never existed. There were times when Haruka hoped that others would remember their common past like they did, but watching them create new ones in the present was oh so fun too. And they were all different people now. For example Xia now had a new life as she'd been able to escape from her previous one, unlike during the oh so far away time. Cain was a lot happier and more relaxed than he'd been as Maya, being allowed to do as he pleased, tinker with the weapons and concentrate on things that truly interested him had been a great help.

And then there was the person who had gathered them all together.

Naoki hadn't really changed from what Haruka could remember him to having been like, but he did trust more easily now. And he allowed them to be close, huddle close if they so desired, even lift him up if they felt like it. And he'd actually laugh with them, he didn't just wave at them through an invisible window.

They weren't trapped in their civilian lives anymore. There was no difference between the Game and the Reality, as there was neither to really pay too much attention to, not when they were literally in a world they all had been peering into through various screens. Their method of escaping the reality none of them had truly felt part of, growing fond of characters and themes, dreaming of being part of it all. Haruka, or more likely Cecilia within, remembered it all too well. How she'd laid down in the pod that transcended her mind into the alternative body, hoping that she'd never have to wake up from it. She remembered how she first met her friends during the stages of testing the game mechanics for the company. She remembered everything that had been. But it wasn't certain how. She just did.  
Haruka took a deep breath and started to hum a song from a musical. It hadn't been created in this world yet, probably because of the crooky family the musical was about being real in this world.  
"I'm being pulled into new direction...."

Midday, and once more, Naoki was in the kitchen of the Sawada household, but this time his visit wasn't a secret to the rest of the residents. In fact, he was now being stared by Smoking Bomb with a sceptical look in his eye. From what he could piece together names and faces, he was accompanied by Vongola Decimo aka Tsunayoshi, Gokudera Hayato, Yamamoto Takeshi, Dokuro Chrome, Sasagawa Ryohei and.... Naoki turned his confused stare to the small child that was currently snacking in sweets. "Um.. Who... Might this little fella be...?" he asked uncertainly, why was the child even there? What was his role in all this? He wasn't one of the people to actually fight was he? Tsunayoshi looked away uneasily, as if he was sensing the slight panic that was lifting its head within Naoki. "Umm.. Wwell...", "Bovino Lambo, Tsuna's lightning guardian", "REBORN"   
Naoki flinched at the screech, silently hoping that his negative reaction would be left unnoticed, he'd never liked loud things, and his own parents were more or less silent people with the capability to have full conversations with only their eyes, a skill their product of love and patience could only hope to obtain one day.

He looked back at the child with a black afro, idly wondering if he had African blood in him, he'd seen photos of the native Africans and to him, they appeared to be rather beautiful sort. Europeans were kinda pretty too with their diverse appearances and exotic eyes. Americans... Well... Naoki preferred how the native Americans looked like over the ones who were the product of immigration during the era of Columbus. Their values and way of living just made a lot more sense to the Japanese boy. Valuing the nature was such a beautiful thing.  
The teenaged Don lifted his head, sensing the eyes that were trying to drill a hole into his head.  
Reborn, the strongest Arcobaleno, was still measuring him up and down. For both potential and threat. Mostly potential threat.  
"I see... He's a bit.. Young isn't he?" Primo asked as he felt his voice fade away into a whisper upon his uncomfort growing and growing. "In mafia, they start to train their youth from the day they learn to walk".  
THAT'S WAY TOO SOON!! DO THEY EVEN TEACH THESE KIDS HOW TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES BEFORE THEY START TO LEARN HOW TO FIGHT?!  
While Naoki was screaming inside his head, and Reborn tried to see inside his head, Tsuna shifted on his seat.

"So um.. Naoki... Why did you decide to start your own family?"  
The two near identical boys stared at one another for a good ten minutes as the older one had to process the sentence in his head couple times.  
"I didn't feel like joining another one", a half truth, Tsuna noted not wanting to point it out, "but also... I was forced to activation without my consent, and my situation was so dire that I had no other option but to gather my own group and "harmonise" with them". The duo resumed to their mutual staring.  
"I am aware of your skill, being untruthful with you would only bring us harm, also I hate lying and liars", "Ah... I see... So umm... Why exactly are you here...?"   
Naoki took a deep breath to calm himself before he'd answer. After all what he was about to say sounded like ramblings of a madman rather than the truth he wished to unveil.  
"Well I... Uhh.. I may have kicked your father out of my house once again. He's been very persistent with having me forge an alliance with Ninth", from the corner of his vision, the teen saw how the eyes of the fake baby started to glimmer, "Which I do appreciate. Honest. But I don't wish to make any alliances nor tie myself to the old generation that is still following the rather... Destructive path...".  
From the expression he received, Naoki could tell that Tsuna wasn't catching on to what he was trying to say. He leaned leaned back on his chair.

"For the past year or so, I've been receiving steady flow of information from my mentor regarding you and your growth. Your behaviour, your actions and reactions, motives, personality, and that's why I'd rather be an ally to you than to Vongola Nono", he said, playing with the buttons of his nehru -jacket nervously, "Or well... I'd rather be friend than an ally, friends are more reliable than allies in my opinion". Reborn hopped onto the table, the iconic fedora shadowing his eyes as he stepped forward, a gun appeared to materialise into his hand while the green lizard, to Naoki it looked like a chameleon but he wasn't sure, disappeared into thin air. The cursed baby turned the weapon towards Naoki, who stared into his eyes without blinking.  
Xanxus had taught him to never look at the weapon, the weapon lied, eyes conveyed a lot more about the intent and the timing than the thing you held in your hands was it a sword, a kusarigama, a fan or a gun.  
"Who is your mentor."  
A flat demand, a hidden blade within the words, a threat. To waver is to betray the trust of your people and the God. To answer clearly is to hand over the soul of your trusted into the hands of the beast.

Naoki kept staring.

One.... Two.... Three...  
Tic toc tic toc..... Tic toc... Tic...... Toc........... Tic........................

**_Toc_ **

The young adult blinked finally, his muscles were starting to relax, but when did he flex them in the first place?  
Something in the person in front of him had him go into hyper vigilant mode, made him pay more attention to the attack that could come. His logical side knew that when it came to skill, he'd lose before the match would even start.  
The raven painted a pleasant smile to his face.  
"My mentor is broken and therefore refuses to step into the light, but perhaps with a bit of kintsugi, they will be able to regain their status and posture", no matter what, do not let this man know who his mentor was, even if it kills him. Protect the still fragile and weak soul that was only starting to get up again like a kitten left in the cold, warmed up by the kindness of human heart. Riddle them without a lie, lay out a thin half truth that has the seeds of truth within it, refuse to tell them anything else. Misdirect them the second you can. But do it to protect those you deem worthy, those you hold dear. The gun was still pointing at him, the target was his forehead and the aim was perfect. However the posture told Naoki that the person wasn't serious. With that specific gun model, there would be a strong kick upon the trigger being pulled as the bullet would leave its chamber while the upper side of the gun would move in order for the next one to move into its position to be ready to be shot, there was a reason why the police never pulled the trigger while holding the gun with only one hand. The second hand was there to stabilise the gun, help with the aim and to minimise the damage caused by the kick. Also....  
"Your knees aren't bent, would you attempt to shoot me like that, you'd fall over from the kinetic energy caused by the kick, not to mention that you'd have to actually aim somewhere else than me to actually land that hit. Also cleaning up my body would be too much of a hassle and would traumatise your student", even more, the words that never left his lips were received, recorded and processed, "You're not going to shoot me for it'd hazardise the progress you've already worked so hard for". The two ravens kept their eyes on each other, neither of them moving, neither of them speaking, both daring. Clash of two wills, battle of wits, pattern recognition versus experience, young versus old, innovation versus learned methods.

Old people say that Fire and Sky are similar forces, both flames leaders that people wish to follow and to worship, but they're not similar at all despite of their colour being near identical.   
Fire and Sun on the other hand....

Fire has the ability to mend to the wounds of others, physical or mental, as do some of the Suns. A well being, healthy Fire is warm and cozy, it looks after its own and attempts constantly find a way to ease the pain of its kin. Sun was to be the same before it was weaponized by the criminal world. And what is the Sun if not a flaming hot ball of magma and gas in the outer space?  
Reborn smirked and took a step back, his gun turning into a lizard once again, Tsuna and his Guardians took a deep breath.  
"Not bad for a civilian", "I don't think that I've ever been an actual civilian if we're being honest here. And I think that you have already seen my family records"

Tsuna watched how the older boy got up from his seat and pulled out a plastic card. He jolted as the teen held the card with his both hands, thumbs holding it in place.  
The official card.  
Business card.  
The older boy was... How was he-

Naoki bowed his head down, his eyes closed, this was a ceremony of one kind to people who'd spent their whole life in this country, as a part of its society. He felt how the younger boy nervously got up from his own seat and walked over to him, a pair of shaking hands taking a hold of the card that held the information that was his phone number, email and address, for both Sicily and Japan. The second the card had changed hands, soon to be pocketed by Tsuna, Naoki straightened to his full height and smiled at the petite teen. "If you have any trouble, don't hesitate to call me okay? Maybe we can also go have some cake together one day, make it a double date", he said enjoying the view of flustered middle school student squeaking like a squeaky toy. It was fun to fluster people like that.

Upon him returning to the Oda Residence, he was soon kabedoned by a red faced, obviously upset Heiji, who was panting as if he'd just ran a marathon. As he stared the boy, who appeared having been crying earlier, Heiji managed to catch his breath.  
The dark blue eyes moved up to stare into his own amber eyes, as he spoke.

"Do you have a problem with me?!"

Aa-a... What was this about now...?


	21. XXI

_**"Do you have a problem with me?!"** _

Naoki stared into those tearful eyes with seemingly calm expression. On the inside he was screaming in panic and confusion though. Heiji was... Not being himself for some reason or another. He was shaking from the raw emotion and the adrenaline that was now leaving his body at a fast phase like the sand in the hourglass. His eyes drifted to the two hands that were preventing his escape, placed to his sides at the height of his elbows. They were shaking.

"Um... No...? I don't think that I do.. Have that thing you just said", confusion was laid thick on his voice like a nice and good chocolate sauce on a parfait. As he kept staring at the smaller boy, he could see how his shoulder fell and how his posture turned worse. Heiji's forehead hit softly Naoki's chest as he leaned closer to the older teen, who was trying to keep himself calm.

Silence fell between the two, neither had never been happier to have that high fence to be there, covering them from those who wandered the street at that hour. Naoki felt the tears that the middle school student was shedding soak his t-shirt. Compelled by something akin to a memory, he raised his hand and started to slowly stroke the curly black hair of the other one. It felt like he'd done something similar to it in the past, but he didn't have any younger siblings nor cousins that he was aware of. Weird....

"You've been avoiding me, and you haven't talked much, I miss that", Heiji sniffled making Naoki look down instead of his awkward staring at the wall, "I thought that you had started to hate me". Naoki flinched at that comment slightly, his hand diving into his pocket to fish out a packet of paper tissues. He silently handed one of the thin, soft, papers to the boy, who started to tap his eyes with it furiously before blowing his nose loudly. The young Don sat down onto a box of garden tools. "I don't hate you Heihei, I really don't, it's the opposite. I like you, a lot, it's just", a sigh escaped through the parted pink lips as he stopped his half assed explanation. It was no use to beat around the bush. "I have some complex feelings, emotions, regarding you. Feelings that I can't understand, but I know to be wrong and they scare me. I don't want to ruin our friendship with something like them", he stated quietly, like a whisper. He didn't even dare to look at the other boy at this point, it was too much for him to say those things out loud, especially since Heiji had every right to feel disgusted and disappointed in him having those feelings. He really hoped that they weren't anything serious, that they'd pass eventually. The Don flinched when the younger boy sat next to him, his feet kicking the grass lightly. The two ravens sat there in the silence for a while, one processing the information he'd just received, the other feeling awkward and embarrassed.

"So... Umm... Why would our friendship be ruined from your feelings?" Naoki blinked as he heard the question, his mind taking a second to register it. And then it clicked.  
Heiji hadn't understood what he was hinting at. The older teen felt like punching himself or better yet bashing his own head against the brick wall. How could someone who was as smart as Heiji be so clueless? The raven looked up towards the sky, and closing his eyes he prayed for patience and prosperity from whatever Deity it was that was testing him like this.  
Still facing the sky, he spoke, "We are both men and I am a lot older than you, on top of it all, I am also a Don, and the only Oda to continue the lineage, and therefore am supposed to be settling down with a woman to produce a heir".  
Heiji stared at the pale male, his face growing redder and redder as time moved forward. But the older one wasn't done yet.  
"I must be confused, I'm just misreading my own affections to be romantic instead of the platonic love it really is. It'll probably pass over time. And if it doesn't....", Naoki clenched his jaw as he bit down hard, swallowing a lump of unsureness before he continued, "I'll kill these emotions if I have to".

Tired from socialisation and feeling dirty for carrying that weight of forbidden emotions that shouldn't be, that weren't meant to be, Naoki got up, soon beelining towards the slide door that separated the Japanese room from the garden. Sliding the door open, the teen was met with the steady gaze of the person wearing a kimono and.... Was that a hood? Sown onto the kimono?

"Ny-", "It's not wrong", "Pardon?"  
The light blue haired adult took the wrist of the young man, pulling him right inside the room.  
Nyx had the confused Japanese sit down, Taran sitting next to the person of questionable gender, before pulling out a deck of cards. "You're troubled boss, you're denying your instincts and needs, you Id, which isn't good for your health", Naoki blinked as he listened to the Vapour. Nyx grabbed the face of the confused male, forcing him to look directly at them. Now Naoki could now see that the eyes of the person were bright yellow. Huh... He always thought that they would be green for some reason.  
"You're a fool m'lord, fool for thinking that your love is bad and corrupt", they said before letting go of the raven, who stumbled onto his feet. He clumsily thanks his friend, who is now smiling mysteriously before walking out of the room in a daze.

Taran gave a pointed stare at the former magician, who was now laying down the tarot cards, humming to themself. He then glanced at the camera that was laying on the table, only to be seen by those who knew that it was there.  
"The photos?" he asked softly, without a doubt not wanting to be heard to alarm anyone with his question. The magician placed the finger over their lips and smiled knowingly.  
"Confidential"   
The male scoffed in a good manner at the answer he received. "Confidential" was a code word for "Keep it under the wraps until I get to remind the person about it and have them be all flustered".   
"You never change do you, Nyx"

The water was hot yet gentle to the skin, perfectly tempered, perfect temperature. Naoki held a tiny ball in his hand, staring it intensively, unsure of what to think of it. Haruka had bought a bunch of them, calling them "bath bombs". This one was supposedly vanilla and chocolate scented.  
The ball fell off of the pale hand, right into the hot water, he watched how the ball slowly dissipated into the water with pink foam forming on top of the water. Naoki inhaled the hot steamy air in the room, feeling the once tense muscles slowly relax. With the sound of fluttering cotton, a single bathrobe fell onto the floor, the sound of water and foam soon to be heard.  
As he sat there in the bathtub, his back against the porcelain, finally fully relaxed from the ordeal that was being face to face with what he could only see as certain death had he been careless. Feeling the stress and tiredness fall off of his shoulders. Leaning his head back, the young man left out a content sigh.

He started to sing.

Cain was startled awake by himself falling off of the couch he'd been slouching on. Confused and somewhat alarmed he looked around. The sound of his King's voice carried into his ears.   
He'd noticed this little habit he had during the year they'd lived together, that whenever someone was upset, he'd start to either sing or hum, the songs were in foreign language Cain didn't know, Naoki didn't appear to realise that he'd switched languages either. It was similar to the boy's native language, but there were many sounds that just didn't belong in it, the hard rolled R, the clear L. Whatever the language was, it was made to be sung with. Slowly the Englishman relaxed himself, fully immersing with the song he couldn't understand. He didn't want to think about it too much, wonder who was the person he was singing for. There just was something sacred about the whole ordeal, the image of Naoki enveloping someone with his arms and rocking them back and forth like a startled baby, singing the song that'd eventually calm the person down to peaceful sleep.  
The stuntman wasn't the only one who heard the song either, in fact everyone who was at the close proximity of the bathroom could hear it. None of them really paying mind nor deciding to find our who'd been hurting, they chose to give them space to go through it first before asking.

Naoki left out a sigh, the water had gone cold already, so there was no use for him to stay in the tub. He got up, and as he so did, he pulled the plug that held the water in the bathtub. Wrapping the towel around him, his singing had been reduced to humming as he dried his hair with another towel. Sadly, Naoki had inherited the rather tasking hair that his father also had; the type that dried slowly and was problematic to cut because of the cuticles being hard as iron. Somehow, they still felt soft to the touch.

The Don exited the room glad in a pale purple pajama and a black morning robe, both made of soft fabrics. The handbook to mafia had made it clear that the mafiosi favoured wearing colour coded clothes to showcase whether or not they were flame active, which strategically was the stupidest thing you could do. Using those bright shirts only gave out your flames and made you an easier target, people could figure out the best setting to stage a fight or an assassination along with your potential weaknesses based on those clothes. Not to mention that it also made the skies more vulnerable to attacks by announcing their presence in the first place. Naoki didn't want that. So instead, he'd ordered himself several sets of different colours to throw the enemies off, if there was ever a need to, and had made sure to not give out information of how he fought. Squalo had proven himself to be an excellent teacher, who'd helped him to pick the best sword style to use along with the sword itself. The second Naoki's hand had touched the handle, he'd felt as if he'd found a piece of himself while Squalo had been mildly amused; he'd chosen a rapier. The Italian sword had a lot of things it wasn't suitable for, but what it could do, it did splendidly.

The eighteen year old tiptoed past the "armoury" absent mindedly noting how Cain had added yet another invention of his in, he'd have to ask for the mafia specialising builders to build a sub level to his cellar at this rate. Just to keep the actual weapons hidden from view. Opening the door, he came face to face with none other than Xia He, who was for some reason in his room.  
The woman stared at Naoki, her arms crossed and brow raised challengingly. The young man shuddered as he felt something cold run over his spine, probably some water that his hair was still dripping a little. "How long are you planning on torturing yourself", the flat tone in which the sentence was voiced made it sound like the Chinese was bored and even annoyed with the raven. Naoki blinked slowly.  
"I don't", "Yes you do. You keep calling yourself with those names and not giving yourself the credit you deserve. You're hurting yourself."  
Naoki sighed, of course everyone would be on his back about this. But he was fine. Really. He was just a bit tired, that's all.

"You're amplifying your own stress by telling yourself that you're a monster. It needs to stop."  
 _Please.. No more._  
 _No more..._  
 _Just let me be...._  
 _It's tiring.._  
 _I can't handle this..._  
 _It's too much.._  
 _Too much.._

Xia He watched how her Don's eyes seemed to dim and turn tired and lifeless, she sighed. It seemed like pressuring him was doing the opposite of what was supposed to be happening.  
She leaned into the doorframe, her bodyweight moved onto her left leg as she did so. "Boss... There's no point in us keeping this syndicate together and alive unless we all are happy", she said gaining the attention of her boss completely. Xia He was one of the few who never called Naoki with any of the decorary titles, instead choosing to call him by the same nickname as the other Dons did. So for her to use one was... Odd. It made everything all the more serious. The woman locked her steely gaze with Naoki's, not allowing him to escape from her sight.  
"What is it that you fear of? What is the reason why you deny yourself from happiness? Tell me."

And the tired young man did. He left out everything. How he'd found out that his future self had children, how those children had died, how he'd found the ashes of his friends, how he felt responsible for their deaths, how he had the responsibility of continuing his family line for the sake of both his own parents and the mafia, his fears, words just fell out of his mouth like a waterfall. And he was on the verge of crying the whole time. There just was so much pressure on him.  
After the man's tired and tear eyed rant, the room fell quiet for a while.

Xia He closed her eyes to process everything that she'd just heard, feeling the annoyance sweeping into her bones. Her friend really was thinking about things too hard.  
She flicked Naoki on the forehead, earning a protest yelp from the raven.  
"You can always keep your relationship with him a secret you idiot. As for having children.... There is something called surrogacy. Your line could be continued that way or I can attempt to find an alternative route to ensure that the children are truly both yours and Heiji's", she looked at the young Don, meeting with a pair of bewildered eyes. She smiled smugly. "I have been studying biomedical field on a university level for a while now, I can make it work".

Naoki fell onto his bed, deep in thought regarding everything that had happened during that day. It seemed like most of his guardians were supportive of his... Curiosity. But he was still scared of the whole thing, what should he do would Heiji start to resent him? Was there a way for him to ensure that the teen wouldn't?  
Rolling onto the side, the Don came to the conclusion that he'd have to wait and see how things played out. Wait until Heiji was an adult and had the ability to make his own decisions.  
"Three more years... I'll wait three more years", he mumbled to himself as he fell asleep, too exhausted from the emotional ordeal and his meeting with the Decimo, not bothered by nightmares.

Heiji glared at his giggling older brother, it wasn't nice to be the source of one's amusement like this. All he'd done was told his brother about what he'd found out and the man had cracked into a fit of laughs. Staring unimpressed, Heiji put more soba into his mouth, silently lamenting the fact that none of them knew how to cook. He missed Naoki's cooking.  
"Are you done", he said flatly to Kousuke, who was now wiping away tears of laughter. Kou grinned at his little brother, clearly trying to hold in laughter. "Sorry sorry, I just can't believe that neither of us will be continuing the family", the man said making the boy blink in confusion. Seeing this, the man continued, "I have no intentions of becoming a father, I'm not interested in the whole procedure". Heiji nodded slowly, confused by the turn of the events.

"But for an actual sky having the hots for you... Must be nice, huh", "If you don't stop with that, I will ruin your suit with soba".

Kousuke raised his hands into a defensive stance, his fiancé had bought this suit for him because she thought that it looked good. He'd die before allowing anything to happen to it. The duo resumed to their dinner in silence.  
"So... Did you at least give him an answer?", "No". The chopsticks fell from Kousuke's hand to the table with a small clank. "You didn't.... Do you have any idea how scary it is to confess your feelings only to be left with no answer? It's horrible! Absolutely terrifying!" Heiji gave a pointed stare to the man, his blue eyes narrowing in annoyance. "Well maybe, I was just too shocked to answer and maybe, just maybe, he escaped the scene before I could answer".  
The two brothers stared at each other in loaded silence. The two hackers measuring one another up and down. Finally Kousuke gave in.

"So. What do you think about him?" Heiji's eyes shifted to the side. "I don't know".  
"LIAR! YOU'RE AVOIDING MY GAZE! 'FESS UP LIKE A MAN!"  
"SHUT UP I'M ONLY 15 IT'S TOO EARLY FOR ME TO THINK ABOUT THIS STUFF!!"


	22. XXII

_”There are many futures one could choose from, each and every one of them dictated by our choices. One future isn't usually better or worse than the other, but there are futures that we prefer much more than the remaining ones._ _In one future, which reader might wish for, this piece of fiction stretches longer than this. In another one it stops right here. In one future, the reader is glad to see their ship taking wing, in another they're torn apart by more and more of the author dodging the matter all together._

_But what is the future that is going to happen?_

_Well, if it wasn't clear from the beginning.... This is the future in which the author ends the story right here, to the final chapter. And mentions nothing of the ship. Such a cruel chapter this is, isn't it?  
_ _But there are many reasons for it to end up like this. Let's say that the author did want for the story to go differently, but a certain set of readers didn't allow him to write the story and thus some of it is hidden on the pages of side stories. Perhaps, the author did want to write an ending, a lot more satisfying ending to their story, to the relationship of few characters, but the way his readers acted caused him to choose differently, for he was too tired of his readers trying to tell him how to write his story._

_Yes, my dear reader, this ending is your own making._

_And the ending is this._

_You shouldn't have rushed the author.„_

"You finished the final chapter, Suke?" a man said as he peered over the shoulder of the porcelain pale man, his nose twitched as he redd the last lines of the text, noting the bitterness of it. Hibari Ryosuke was the type of person who didn't like to give out half assed stories, he'd rather rewrite it completely than release it the way it had been now. But there had been no time for him to do so. Not this time. The man in question scoffed.  
"If they do want to read the story, the real story, they'll need to pay attention to the details more. But knowing how humans are, they won't", a spoonful of chocolate pudding was placed into his mouth with the kind of grudge that only an author trying to tell a story only for his readers not wanting to read it in favour of concentrating in useless relationship drama.

"But what was the story supposed to be about then?"

Ryosuke moved his head a little to look at his lover, his eyes half lidded from both tiredness and to showcase that he wasn't entirely happy with this situation. The spoon still tangling from his mouth that was forming a thin line.  
"Oda, his rise to power and his doom. This wasn't a fantasy novel Shuu, this was memoirs of a man I looked up to", he looked down at the keyboard, playing with the spoon before pulling it out of his mouth in thought, "It all went to downhill once I started to talk about the heir of his power, that's when people suddenly started to only care about all that relationship crap". He waved the spoon back and forth in annoyed manner.  
"Who cares about him being together with the crossdresser, or the Chinese, or the magician, or the hacker, it's not important, not important at all. But how he managed to gather such a big group... Now that's important thing to write about. He didn't just create a group there, he created a family, a found family, and that's more interesting than any of that mushy romance".

Shuichi understood that train of thought more than well, but he also could see why people would be interested in the relationship part of the story. He enveloped the man into an embrace, resting his head on the raven's shoulder. "So... The real story will be hidden somewhere else entirely?", "It will be scattered and who knows, maybe it'll be uncovered by the future generations. The current one for sure isn't getting it".

Naoki Oda, aged nineteen, thew his messenger bag over his shoulder and gave a soft glance at his friends. Heiji was starting high school this year with few others and the Famiglia was doing pretty good. Haruka had started to climb the corporate ladder of idol work and so far the reception was great, Xia He had started to take private lessons from someone called Poison Scorpion regarding assassination and Cain was thriving with his more or less destructive inventions.  
Taran, Yui and Nyx were apparently working on something at the Sicilian base, something about safety.  
Naoki glanced at the figure next to him, who would've guessed that all it took to convince L27 to join them was to promise them that they'd be getting their own computer room with only the best equipment available. It really told volumes of how little the mafioso understood when it came to civilians and the current generation. Not that Kousuke was a civilian, he was pretty much the opposite. But still, neither the Nations nor Mafia had thought about bribing him with equipment, food or housing? Just what kind of idiots were running the world anyways?

Kousuke smirked at him, his lips parted to form a question. "I will literally give you over to the Secret Agent Agency of Japan if you ever ask me those kinds of questions again", the answer the Don received was just a bubbly laughter. From the corner of his eye, Naoki caught the sight of Sawada Tsunayoshi running towards the middle school, an infant sized man riding on his head. He shook his head affectionately before turning his attention to the school gates, a slip of paper with a list of universities in his hand.

There are many futures available for us, to get to some of them, we must be ready to make the leap of faith and dive into the unknown. For some you have to do the unthinkable. To others you do nothing. But there is always a future available for us, we just have to choose from a wide variety of them, to go for the one that's the most appealing for us.  
This is where the story of Naoki Oda, Paravento Primo, ends. Of course, his life was a lot longer than this, but some things are better left unwritten.

Some things are just too personal to be written down, which is why we often avoid them.   
  



End file.
